


HALCYON

by posytivelysweet



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Past Byun Baekhyun/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Sick Character, i tagged major character death but it's complicated, ot12 if u squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 12:19:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16810471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posytivelysweet/pseuds/posytivelysweet
Summary: The Fever destroyed Baekhyun's world and it has the potential to destroy Chanyeol's as well. They just didn't imagine that finding the cure would destroy them.





	1. THE SEPARATION AND JUPITER

**Author's Note:**

> All of the names and faces used within the story are borrowed from their real-world counterparts; the actions and opinions of the characters are in no way reflective of those people. This is a work of fiction.

** SOLTERRA-1 2020 **

“You will never believe what we just picked up on the probe servers!” Jongin gushed, his voice filtering robotically over Chanyeol’s in-ear. He scowled. It wasn’t every day that Jongin hijacked his communication line, but when he did it always seemed to cause a spectacle. 

This time he’d caught Chanyeol so off-guard that the last bottle of actual alcohol on the entire ship now lay shattered against the floor, the precious liquid already draining into the waste collect. Chanyeol remained quiet long enough for Jongin to ask, “Hey, buddy, ‘Yeol? Still there? Shit—Sehun I think he might be dea-” 

“I’m not dead Jongin. In fact, I’m just peachy,” He cut in, voice dripping with sarcasm and thinly-veiled fury. A beat of silence passed, then another. “Jongin, fucking… why are calling again?”

The other man seemed to brush off whatever limitations he’d had confronting a pissy space-captain and instantly started prattling off through the connection, “Anyways, as I was saying,” Chanyeol growled. “Sehun and I are monitoring for the ISA still and the probes just picked up the frequencies of one of those Type Omega SMBH’s. The like huge black holes that don’t register on any of the equipment from before like, last year.”

Chanyeol grunted in affirmation, collecting shards of glass from the floor as he listened. Jongin continued on, “Yeah okay, so what’s cool about this frequency is that the probes are also showing obstructed frequency in a certain place near the event horizon on this thing. Which means there’s either a frozen planet or some other thing obstructing it.”

Chanyeol hummed, “And this is important why?”

“Well,” Jongin huffed, “uh- this is honestly Sehun’s specialty. I didn’t design half of the ISA’s equipment.” There was the telling beep of the communication line cutting and reconnecting. Then Sehun’s nasally, bored voice was oozing out of the speakers to Chanyeol’s chagrin. 

“Jongin’s dumb. What he’s saying is this time we’re not hijacking your communications. We’re under orders. So listen up, buttercup.” Chanyeol’s scowl deepened. Do Kyungsoo, his First Officer, raised an eyebrow.

“Can you reroute your connection to ERI?” Chanyeol questioned, referencing the ship’s mainframe computer. The other man had already disconnected and was speaking through the mainframe.

“As I was saying. We’re taking you off of escort duty. You’ll be welcoming researcher Kim Junmyeon onto your ship. Dr. Kim will be using your ships advanced technology to breach what’s called the Freeze of Supermassive Black Hole Omega 04. You are familiar with the concept, correct,”

“It’s an observationally frozen object. A paradoxical piece of matter that exists to any observer that does not breach its timeline, but that exists in a completely different place in actuality,” Chanyeol recited.

“Good, maybe you did pay attention at the Academy.”

“Get on with it.”

“Your ship has been equipped to withstand the freeze. In a sense, it is able to travel in complementary position as these paradoxical targets. In other words, your ship will allow Dr. Kim to observe the effect of the supermassive black hole on a piece of matter in space.” Sehun continued, “If this target object we’re sending you to happens to be a ship, you are tasked with establishing communication or breaching it.”

Chanyeol nodded, leaving the rest of the logistics for Kyungsoo to talk out with Sehun. Instead, he captained the ship into position to allow the smaller research vessel they’d been escorting to board. In only minutes, Dr. Kim was appearing on the deck, courtesy of the cameras and communications from crew greeting him. 

“Send him to the Observation Deck. Warn him that we’ll begin accelerating in the direction of SMBH Omega-04. We are rather close already for this ship. It will be a short trip. Long enough for a night shift’s rotation, but little more than that.” 

—

There was something exceptionally calming about piloting the ship once he’d dismissed the rest of the crew to sleep. The night shift worked diligently in their designated stations. Every few minutes, Chanyeol would get coordinates of passing objects such as meteors or asteroids. Other than that, however, he was left in peace and quiet. Or as quiet as it got with him.

The soft tune of a guitar, recorded back on Earth, was thrumming through ERI’s speakers, and the electronic sensors and instruments were constantly communicating the status of the ship in the peace.

But he was used to this. This was as natural to him as breathing. He loved to guide the ship through the asteroid belts. He found beauty in the emptiness of the space the ship traversed. There was little more humbling than the vastness of space itself. To pioneering exploration and discovery in the so-called Final Frontier as they called it back home on Earth. 

One of the sensors shrilled brightly, red light beaming the room briefly. Chanyeol did not flinch, but he did pause in confusion. 

It was too early for one of the sensors to be going off like that. They were approaching the Freeze, and if luck would have it, would cross it without the crew being any the wiser, but they hadn’t reached it yet. Hell, the object they were supposed to observe wasn’t for a few radars yet. 

“Can we have Officer Do awoken? Send my apologies.” Chanyeol communicated over the line to the crew in the cargo of the ship, closest the sleeping quarters. Immediately he switched lines to his signalers, “Can I get coordinates on any object inside the freeze within about forty radars?”

Someone affirmed that they were on it. Chanyeol turned his attention back to the instruments at his fingertips. 

It was then that he noticed what sensor had gone off. It was a sensor for concentrated radioactive areas. Immediately, Chanyeol was communication to his crew that he needed the information his signalers picked up compared to the data his sensor was outputting. In the meantime he halted the ship and began theorizing the situation by hand, simple equations evolving into something far more complicated as his mind ran wild with hypotheses.

He had completed a rough sketch of the most plausible situation when an image was sent to the mainframe, Eri displaying it as proudly as a child showed a picture to their parents. The visualization was similar to Chanyeol’s sketch but perceptibly different in several key areas.

The visualization pointed to a magnified radioactive force. Something that, by a much smaller scale, had been observed around severely damaged aircraft from centuries ago. The empty ghost ships of explorers long since deceased by the time Earth and the International Space Association was able to send pioneers out into the galaxies tended to give off similar waves of radioactive energy. 

The hypothesis was that the black hole had caused the sensors to either, a.) incorrectly interpret the size of the radioactive area or to b.) cause what would typically be a much smaller area warp and expand.

Chanyeol was banking on the latter option.

Kyungsoo sank into the seat opposite him.”What’s the situation?”

“Looks like we’ll have to put everyone in protective suits until the sensor settles down. I don’t want to risk anything.” Kyungsoo nodded and immediately sent the message for those that were awake to go wake their crew-mates and change into protective gear. 

An hour or so later and everyone was confirmed to be in their gear and the ship was able to accelerate into warp drive again. And now the entire crew was wide awake. The red light of the sensor’s warnings continued to periodically scan the rooms. Chanyeol wouldn’t turn it off, would have to wait for them to get out of the danger zone again to do so.

They were rapidly approaching the Freeze. The Edge of Time. The Leap. Whatever you wished to call it. Dr. Kim observed quietly from behind the crew on the bridge, watching the various digital maps as well as looking out of the skylight and panels out into space that spanned the cockpit.

“This is your captain speaking.” Chanyeol’s voice rang throughout the ship. He paused to allow everyone to fall silent. “We’re entering the Point of No Return. All conscious people are warned now that it is plausible to suffer any number of headaches, nosebleeds, or other physical distresses as we pass this barrier.”

He turned to Kim, and to explain said, “The unconscious mind typically handles the freeze better than the conscious one. Hence the warning.” 

“How many times have you done this before?” Kim questioned, cocking his head. A curly hair fell out of place, reminding Chanyeol briefly of Superman.

Chanyeol snorted, “Like twice, but it’s enough to make an observation, no?” The researcher nodded in acquiesce. Kyungsoo began changing the settings on the ship, readying her to pass through the barrier.

When they reached it, it was hard to place exactly when they crossed it. Chanyeol was able to read the moment off his sensors and based on the information he was getting communicated through the Head of Operations. His Assistant Operator answered the call and immediately began routing the information she was getting from the ISA’s point of view back to the rest of the bridge.

That was when the wave of nausea hit. Chanyeol was familiar with it by now, but his vision still blacked out momentarily. He blinked rapidly, curbing the panic that threatened to rise in his chest, and focusing on rationalizing the situation. In a minute, he could see once more. All along the communication lines, he could hear the various groans of pain, occasional whines if the communicant was especially prone to a painful crossing. 

The Chief Navigator communicated what Chanyeol already knew. They’d passed into SMBH Omega-4’s gravitational radius. The Electronics Technician communicated that they were still within the radioactive zone. Kyungsoo handled giving direction to the crew now that they were inside the freeze as Chanyeol began steering the ship in the direction he’d been pointed. 

“It’s not a planet,” Kang Seulgi,Assistant Operator, said, “Sonar crew is saying that we’ve got readings typical of a ship. A ship about as large as ours,” She continued. Chanyeol whipped his head around, blinking slowly. 

“As large as ours?” It was already common knowledge that ERI was the largest vessel capable of covering the distance they’d covered. In every case of ISA ships happening upon abandoned vessels, even vessels marked from the Central Council (the committee that governed common space, made up of representatives from a multitude of galaxies and species) were not as large as ERI. She was a bastion of progress. She was completely independent of Earth, capable of drilling her own fuels, growing her own food, harvesting her own water. She was, by all means, the intergalactic vessel, used to escort research vessels, head military operations, transport diplomats across the vastness of space.

That there was a ship that rivaled her, was perhaps even larger than she “caught” in a supermassive black hole wasn’t just impossible, it was frightening.

If another civilization had created something of her magnitude it could have done so thousands of years prior. Their advancement could be so impressive that Earth was threatened. And that… that was shocking. If this was a recent build, then it merely meant that something was advancing as fast as Earth was. If the ship was marked with any of their enemies insignias it could prove a war was brewing.

“I’ll board her. First Officer Do will be pilot-in-command. Have Company 4 and 6 briefed. They will take to clearing the body of the vessel.” Chanyeol arranged for Seulgi to route his communications to the officers he commanded. He arranged for Kim Jongdae and Kim Minseok to accompany him on a more targeted sweep of the bridge before returning to directing the ship. 

It felt like hours, but was probably closer to minutes for the ship, before their target came into view. 

The bridge went silent as it took in the ship through the glass panels. She wasn’t as large as ERI, she was even larger, and for that reason, Chanyeol requested two more companies to be dressed for potential combat.

“Can we open any communications with them?” He questioned.

They piloted next to the ship, drawing up alongside her port side. A negative came through the communications system. There wasn’t going to be any communication with the ship before they attempted to board. Even so, Chanyeol was not so worried about confrontation. The nature of the ship suggested that it was, unlike ERI, unsuited for military demonstration. If anything, the ship appeared to be a magnified research ship. 

Boarding went easily for the armed companies. Chanyeol was given the message they’d successfully deployed and were now exploring the ship without contest. The Operations Officer reconnected Chanyeol’s in-ear. He would answer to Kyungsoo during the time he was exploring the foreign vessel.

He joined both of the Kims at their deployment zone, entering the small transport ship and settling down for the very short journey onto the deck of the other craft. They’d be breaching bridge through the power bay just below it, where there was access to outer space in case technicians needed to begin repairs.

Minseok was the first to land on the vessel, hooking his deadline to one of the grooves lining the hull of the ship. Jongdae and then Chanyeol followed suit. From the first step inside the door, Chanyeol realized that the gravity inside the ship was designed for much lighter people. Chanyeol and Minseok, with as much muscle mass as they had, were forced to keep a gloved hand against the walls of the ship, grounding themselves. Jongdae, while he was obviously still too heavy for the gravity of the ship to feel natural to him, was much more free to move.

They split up immediately, but Chanyeol did not worry. Jongin was playing intermediary transmission officer to Chanyeol’s line of communication and so far all he’d said was that the rest of the ship was turning up empty. Chanyeol scanned the hallways, his eyes landing on an air-tight door. A glance through the window satisfied him, and he cranked it open to the staircase. His ascent was slow, careful. The stairwell was dark, unlit. He unholstered his ray gun as he ascended, round and round. He had a lot of headroom, suggesting that the height of whatever species that had built the ship was rather tall. Chanyeol noted each observation silently, it would aid him if he had to interact with anyone or anything.

He came upon the exit door and, cranking it quietly, swung it open. The bridge was empty. He scanned the room, steps soft as he made his way towards the control panel.

“⎅⍜⋏⏁. ⏁⍜⎍☊⊑” The language was unfamiliar to Chanyeol, but the tone was easy to understand. Chanyeol froze, not even turning his head in the direction of the voice. Jongin, having heard the confrontation was immediately barking directions into Chanyeol’s ear.

“⍀⟒⋔⍜⎐⟒ ⟟⏁!” At the sharp exclamation, Chanyeol turned his head. The alien he met the gaze of held a wicked looking blade, decidedly foreign to Chanyeol. He didn’t even recognize the component it was made up of. The alien pointed at the earpiece he wore, then made the motion of pulling it out of his ear.

The ISA would kill him. Chanyeol shook his head, “I can’t. They’re trying to translate you for me.” He hoped the placating tone he was going for would be understood. That it would de-escalate the situation at hand.

The alien’s eyes blazed and with a practiced movement disarmed Chanyeol and shoved the blunt end of his weapon into Chanyeol’s shoulder, butting the tall man into the control panel painfully. He cursed, loudly and whipped around for his back-up. The alien leveled the point of his weapon to Chanyeol’s throat menacingly.

“Can’t.” The alien voiced, accent so thick that Chanyeol could hardly understand. Then he realized it was mimicking the word he’d said earlier. Expressing a negative. Making sure that Chanyeol understood him even if they had a language barrier. Chanyeol froze and then relaxed as if to show that he was no threat.

Jongin’s voice filtered over the comm again, “We have a language on him, but its a dead language. It’s very likely, considering where you are, that you’re speaking to a modern planet’s ancient ancestors or a member of conquered planet’s people.”

The alien motioned for the in-ear to be removed again, baring his teeth (noticeably human apart from the larger canines). Chanyeol wasn’t going to take his chances, knowing already that Jongin would still be able to monitor what was said within the room and was likely already in communication with the arsenal of ERI’s soldiers present on the ship.

The second he removed the in-ear, the alien was stepping forward and removing weapons from Chanyeol’s body. He remained still, nervous of confronting something that had been so ready for him. 

The alien kicked away his weapons. Then, it turned around and moved across the room to the door as if gliding, it moved so gracefully. Chanyeol took the time to examine the alien in the meantime, noticing idly that it was sealing the entrance to the bridge. 

The alien was short, which surprised Chanyeol considering how large the ceilings were. It had pale skin with a silver sheen to it as if it had highlighter dusted over its entire body. It wore a simple, loose garment made up of foreign fabrics and materials, so sheer that Chanyeol was able to trace out the divots of the alien’s body underneath the garment.

It was strikingly humanoid, so much so that it had a cock, which was enough for Chanyeol to decide he was male. In addition, much of its muscle structure mirrored that of a human, though its abdomen was flatter and drew up tightly over bones Chanyeol knew weren’t present in his own body.

“They’ll break in eventually.” He commented, knowing that the alien wouldn’t be able to understand him. It disregarded him, to Chanyeol’s chagrin. If it wanted to ignore him, then fine, he could go ahead and make it so that the alien couldn’t. He popped his earpiece back in and stood up.

“What’s the sitch, Jongin?”

“You’ve got your in-ear back in? Sorry, we’ve got Minseok and Jongdae monitoring you from the vents. They’re going to wait on your signal now. If they think you’re in immediate danger they’ll step in and neutralize the threat.” The alien glared at Chanyeol from across the room. He already hypothesized that it had superior hearing, but he was content in knowing it couldn’t understand their words. He glared back at it challengingly.

“Stop trying to piss it off,” Jongin continued dryly. “We really don’t want to kill it considering this is a research vessel and it’s literally the only thing alive on that entire ship. If we can break the language barrier it could be of use to us.”

“You’re saying I have to be its friend until y’all figure out how to get me out of here without having to kill it.”

“Basically, yes.” Chanyeol deflated. He didn’t want to be friends with something that had just leveled some blade to his throat.

“⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⏃⍀⟒ ⊬⍜⎍?” The alien questioned, pointing at Chanyeol. He shook his head confusedly. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“I, ⏚⏃⟒☍⊑⊬⎍⋏,” The alien motioned to itself. Chanyeol tried the syllables out in his head, “Baekhyun? Baekhyun?” 

“Baekhyun,” The alien adapted to Chanyeol’s pronunciation, then motioned to itself again. Then that must be its name?

“Chanyeol,” He said, digging his thumb into his chest. The alien repeated him and then switching its pronunciation a bit more it pointed at him and said, “☊⊑⏃⋏⊬⟒⍜⌰.”Chanyeol nodded. The alien seemed satisfied, nodding once. Then it pointed at two vents in the room. 

“Can’t!” It repeated from earlier. Its eyes, previously neutral seemed angry again. “⋔⏃☍⟒ ⏁⊑⟒⋔ ⌰⟒⏃⎐⟒!” Chanyeol couldn’t understand him still, but he got the message.

“Jongin, have Minseok and Jongdae get out of the vents. It’s not happy.” Jongin protested, but seeing the alien poise its weapon again, Chanyeol realized the danger the other two were in, especially if the vents were made thinly. 

“Wait!” He shouted, desperate, as the alien man shoved the blade through the ventilation, cutting into it as if it were butter. Someone screamed violently. When Baekhyun removed the blade, blood dripped down from the vent and along the edge of his blade. Chanyeol roared and threw himself towards the alien. 

They connected heavily. Chanyeol wrestling the thin man against the ground unceremoniously. It writhed, wiggling to free its arm, dropping the blade in the same moment. 

Its nails and its teeth were infinitely worse, Chanyeol thought as it raked one hand down his helmet, gasping as the glass curled up and broke underneath the creature’s hands. He planted his palm in the creature’s face before it could snap at his throat, shoving its head against the ground, relishing in the sharp crack. It snarled, using its hands to tear into the back of Chanyeol’s suit.

Chanyeol shoved himself away from the creature before it could cause a rip. If it did and the ventilation in this place was toxic to him he would die, and probably very painfully. The alien let him withdraw, though it snarled in warning. It picked itself up and snatched its weapon off the floor, pausing as if to listen. 

It was apparently disappointed because it did not attempt to kill anyone in the vents again. Chanyeol breathed hard, his lips drawn back in a growl of his own.

“Minseok’s okay, whatever that thing is punctured his suit though. They got him in the gut, but we can clean it. He’ll be fine. He’s going to go through radiation testing. You’re on your own in there right now. ISA recalled the troops you brought onto the vessel.” 

“You’re saying I’m expendable to them.”

“Unfortunately. Stay positive though. Sehun and I are both assigned on your case. I’m already collecting information to try and find an equivalent of your creature’s language in modern time. Anyways I’m disconnecting us for the time being. You can force contact like usual, but your in-ear isn’t live once I disconnect unless you manually turn it back on in an emergency. Okay?”

Chanyeol waited until the communication line cut to reevaluate his situation. Baekhyun was walking around, stomping sharply on each of Chanyeol’s weapons, waiting for them to break under the heel of his boot before moving on to the next. Chanyeol watched unhappily, forced to deal with the destruction of everything that would have protected him. That’s when Baekhyun turned to face him again.

“Chanyeol,” He pointed to the wall and then waved his hand dismissively. Chanyeol scoot on his butt to lean against the wall and watched as Baekhyun returned to whatever he was doing as if he had not just taken a prisoner.

Baekhyun was, interesting. Chanyeol had already said it, but the alien was completely foreign and yet, so familiar. They had not come into contact with a great number of humanoid aliens as similar as Baekhyun was to him. It was surprising.

Baekhyun checked the control panel to ensure it hadn’t been ruined in Chanyeol’s initial fall. Seemingly satisfied, he stepped back and returned to the back of the bridge, to a part of the room that had been blocked from Chanyeol’s initial view. It explained why he hadn’t noticed the alien.

Baekhyun lifted himself up into a cubby-hole, pulling the blanket that had hung out over the edge back up into the little sleeping compartment. After a moment of rearranging, he appeared comfortable, and watched Chanyeol quietly, big blue eyes blinking at him curiously, but not maliciously now.

Chanyeol curled up, calming himself down. Minseok was okay. Compartmentalizing his emotions, he stood up and began exploring the room, turning his back on the alien despite all of his instincts screaming at him not to. He didn’t hear anything move, so he figured he was fine for now to walk around a bit.

He decided to check out the control panel first and compare it to that of ERI’s. From first glance, he realized that it was extremely high-tech, but lacked several integral sensors and controls that his own ship had. It made him curious as to how this ship was able to travel through space. If it had extra armor and protections that negated the need for any of the sensors it was missing, like radiation sensors and the like.

He hoped Jongin would contact him again soon. Let him know if Minseok tested positive for radiation. The suit would get uncomfortable soon.

Chanyeol scanned the rest of the control panel but again was met with an array of unfamiliar characters and symbols. Nothing he could read. He noticed what looked like paper, but upon picking it up he realized it was much too smooth and plastic feeling to be paper. However, it did appear to be used for the same purpose, writing.

The most interesting thing was that Chanyeol recognized this language.

“You speak Oeralese?” He said in the aforementioned language, whipping around.

The alien stared. “I do.” He finally said, his voice rich, accent unnoticeable in the shared language. “It is a sign of love for my people to learn the language of our daughter planet. You know of them then?” His eyes were narrowed and calculating. His distrust apparent.

Chanyeol’s brow creased and without thinking he responded, “Oeralese is a slave language. It is the language of refugees and migrants, not of a species?” He snapped his mouth shut at the same moment he realized what he’d said.

Baekhyun, for his part, did not look angry. He just, deflated, releasing a breath of sadness. “If you know Oeralese but not Eolin then… my people?” 

“I’ve never heard of Eolin.” Chanyeol confirmed what Baekhyun already knew. Despite what he’d already done, Chanyeol couldn’t help the sympathy he felt for the alien.

“I presume if you do not know of my people that you must not be our enemies then?” Baekhyun said drily, his tone nonchalant, masking his emotions perfectly. 

“No. We boarded this vessel with the intent to view its mechanical design and to see if there were abandoned provisions or the like. Our research team thought that this vessel appeared to be a large research facility, so we were also looking for research we could later translate or at least equations we could examine.” Chanyeol explained, “I came in peace but you weren’t having it.”

“Imagine not seeing a living being for millennia and then something walks into what’s become your home and will become your grave. Especially in such a place as this, trapped by the force of a black hole. The only reason my ship exists in this place is that I was able to design a counter-force. You would be terrified as well.”

“I don’t tend to think of myself as scary.”

“You aren’t. You are fleshy and fragile. Oafish and clumsy. I could hear you coming from a league away.” Baekhyun commented. Chanyeol grit his teeth, just when he thought the alien might be all right.

“Thanks. Can I turn on my communication device? ISA’s going to want to know I’ve established proper contact now.”

“Do as you will. I don’t see what good it will do. You are as trapped as I.”

“ERI, my ship, is capable of traveling through the gravitational force of a black hole. There is no trap. You can board her, but you understand you will be under my jurisdiction and watch as soon as you stepped onto that ship, correct?” He let that sink in before manually calling Jongin back.

“Do you need me to send the troops over?”

“No. I’ve opened communication between us. He speaks a language called Eolin natively but also the slave language Oeralese. He said that the native speakers of Oeralese were members of his daughter planet.”

“Oeralese is the oldest spoken language across space without contest. Are you telling me he speaks a language older than an era, perhaps even an eon?” Jongin exclaimed in his ear. Chanyeol turned and, switching languages, asked,

“What was the date by your calendar?”

“It was Eolin Millenia 9.75. That was the date of my last transmission. I have not recorded time since, but I can see what my ship’s data tells me?” Baekhyun responded, dropping out of the compartment he’d only just entered. He fiddled with the controls a bit and then the computer was flickering to life. Baekhyun gave it a command in his native language and waited as it computed the question and displayed the resultant.

“It cannot compute it. Halcyon-1 interferes with much of my ship’s technological capabilities,” Baekhyun reported quietly. “If you have any information on the Oeralese then I can place my calendar within their time frame. I was present for the birth of their second queen.”

Chanyeol nodded to see that he appreciated the information. “If you pack up what research you have and any supplies you need we can transfer you over to my ship. The gravity on it will affect you far less than this one does, I’m afraid.” Baekhyun nodded and began to gather various stacks of papers and small pieces of equipment from around the room. 

“Jongin. Baekhyun says that he was present for the birth of the second Oeralese queen. See if anyone in the Central Council has records?” Jongin gave him the affirmative and muted himself. Chanyeol turned his attention back to Baekhyun, watching as the alien stretched a thin plastic-like sheet over everything he wanted to take. In one swift move, he was smoothing out the sheet and folding it up, the items he’d covered folding with it, seemingly disregarding their mass, volume, and structure to flatten out into one clean sheet.

Baekhyun folded it twice more and placed it inside the small sheath of folders he held as if it was just any other paper, not all of his most cherished possessions. “How in the hell?” Chanyeol mumbled. Baekhyun blinked, unable to understand his language. “Sorry. That tech is just… incredible.” He said, in Oeralese. Baekhyun grinned, the pride he held in his technology visible in his smile.

“Eolin was a bastion of technological advancement. We lived for so long that it was easy to devote oneself to a research and take it to radical lengths.”

“How long do you live?” Chanyeol cocked his head.

“I don’t know. I was created in Exiguus 1, as a Sehrli. We are the parent species of the Eolins who were created from our wombs. Sehrli were born from the womb of the planet,” Baekhyun explained. Chanyeol’s mind raced. “Eolins lived a millennium at the most typically. Sehrli… they have only ever been killed. I have never known them to die of aging, even sickness seems to take so long it may as well be nominal.” 

“I can’t believe you found a fucking god on your third time inside the freeze, Chanyeol,” Sehun said through the comm. Chanyeol shook his head, still trying to wrap his head around it.

“Why isn’t there anyone else on your ship?” 

“I sent my crew out in emergency pods once I realized Halcyon was going to trap us. Each was equipped to navigate back to our home planet. They were Eolin though, so it is possible if as much time has passed as I fear that they are dead now.” Baekhyun said softly, sorrow clear in his tone. “If they are gone… then it is possible that my beloved has also long since passed. It was his life’s work to develop a serum to reverse the negative effects of age or of sickness… so perhaps.” Chanyeol could sense the wishful thinking and pitied the alien quietly. He was lucky that ERI could travel fast enough that when he returned to Earth it was only as if a year or so had passed depending on how long he’d been out. He couldn’t imagine leaving and coming back to see a whole new generation of people ruling the world. 

“Good news and bad news for him. We do have a record of the Oeralese, and a date for their queen. It’s around our estimated Archean period, which if you’re like me and not a Mega-Nerd means your friend there is from before what this document would say is about 4.2 billion years ago.” Chanyeol tried not to gasp, but his eyes widened comically.

“Were you only alive to witness the birth of the second queen or?”

“No, I remember when the Oeralese began to evolve, but I was only physically present for the birth of the second queen. I was invited by her mother.”

“How old were you at that point?”

“It was the seventh Eolin Millenia when she was born. I was probably a few millennia older than that. The Sehrli did not have a concept of time. It was useless to us until we began to have our children and watch them grow up and pass.”

“He’s probably from the Hadean period then, like… the beginning of the universe.” 

“Holy shit? Anyways, I’m bringing him aboard ERI. I want him under ISA protection with the understanding that he is his own representative in the Central Committee, assuming he is the last of his kind.” Chanyeol glanced at Baekhyun as Sehun gave the affirmative to let him over onto the ship, obviously speaking with permission from Kyungsoo.

“Come along then,” He motioned for Baekhyun to follow and was struck again by how smoothly the alien carried himself, the natural fluidity in his motions reminding Chanyeol of Jongin when he danced. “Do you need any type of protective gear, or?”

“No, my body will naturally adapt to its environment. Outer space poses no threat to me nor does your ship.” With that he helped lead Chanyeol out of the ship, using the safer passages, stopping along the way to fetch random documents and possessions. The design of his ship, while much sleeker and more beautiful than Chanyeol’s was clearly simpler. There were no crew quarters, he realized as they moved. Every facet of the ship had a research purpose and was fit with a smaller sleeping station inside the research room. It was interesting. 

“You must care a lot for your research to have your sleeping compartments in the research rooms?”

“We believed that sleep was secondary to learning. The compartments were present for when we needed to actively absorb the information we’d recorded. Otherwise, there was little use for them. Serums and other advancements allowed us to remain energized,” the alien explained helpfully. “I’m afraid if you were about to ask for one, I sent them all along with the escape pods. There are none to be found here. They were not my area of research either. I cannot replicate them without time.”

“That’s fine. I like sleeping. It’s a good break,” Chanyeol said nervously, clearly perturbed by the thought of so little sleep. Baekhyun laughed and whatever Chanyeol had been thinking was instantly forgotten. Baekhyun snapped his mouth shut and turned nervously towards Chanyeol.

“I’m sorry, I forget my manners,”

“No! You’re… you’re fine. Your—I don’t think Oeralese has a word for it?—laugh is just really nice. I wasn’t expecting to hear it,” Chanyeol placated

“Thank you?” Baekhyun said softly. “Eolins don’t like it when we laugh. It’s threatening.” Chanyeol could see it, with the sharp teeth Baekhyun possessed it was surely somewhat concerning.

“You’re fine, everyone on Earth laughs too. And even though Kyungsoo is Nev’id they laugh too; they’re like our twin species. The only differences are the diets and conditions they can experience comfortably, you know?”

Baekhyun nodded to show he’d been understood before cracking open the door to the docking platform. Jongdae waited there, ready to escort Chanyeol over safely. Despite the extra tension in his form, he let nothing slip that he likely hated Baekhyun for the pain he’d caused Minseok.

Baekhyun followed quietly from behind, firmly gripping the same blade he’d used earlier (and had coiled into several rings to Chanyeol’s surprise), clearly uncomfortable around the soldier.

ERI received them well, considering. Baekhyun seemed to adapt quickly, and in the increased gravity, he appeared even lighter on his feet. If it concerned him, he did not show it. Chanyeol was quick to arrange his rooming and send him away. Chanyeol removed his helmet, keeping the radiation collar in place to protect him. They would be returning full-throttle to Earth to assess Baekhyun’s origins. If possible they would look for living connections for him, but if they could not be found… then Baekhyun would be considered an orphaned species and go under increased protections.

Unless some ancient treaty enslaved him, but Chanyeol thought that if even the Eolins were fairly unknown that Sehrli would be just as difficult to find if they could be located at all. 

Kyungsoo greeted him on the bridge with a slap and a bone-crushing hug. “Who the fuck are you, this isn’t my Kyungsoo!” He joked, pushing Kyungsoo away gently. 

“You idiot! I had Jongin in my fucking ear telling me you were gonna die and then I had Minseok getting dragged back onboard and rushed to the med-bay! What the hell?” Kyungsoo fretted, his worry palpable. “And now I hear your pitiful ass brought whatever thing attacked you back onto this ship? With all its shit?!” Chanyeol reached forward and placed his hand over Kyungsoo’s mouth, ignoring his murderous glare in favor of explaining his reasoning.

“That ‘thing’ is a treasure trove of information that the ISA can benefit from. Not only that, but he’s a genius. He was picking up on my language and meaning only seconds after I said things; not to mention he managed to keep his ship frozen in place, counteracting a supermassive black hole. That’s incredible!” Chanyeol gushed, withdrawing his hand. 

“We’ve been researching these black holes in hopes of finding a way to stall the epidemic back on Earth. Kyungsoo, his fucking husband was researching a serum for what’s basically immortality. His research team worked individually on different health-related theorems from what I understand. It’s possible of the papers we scavenged that there’s the beginning of a cure somewhere!” He continued on, his excitement palpable. “Hell, he probably knows a millennia's worth of information on these black holes. He can jumpstart our research team’s knowledge by a ridiculous amount.”

“That’s assuming he wants to work with us! That’s assuming he’s not just looking for a way out of that fucking ship! That’s assuming he possesses absolutely no threat to us now that you’ve let your guard down around him.” Kyungsoo pointed at the helmet Chanyeol held underneath his arm, at the threatening gouge marks through the first layer of glass. “He did that with his nails.” Kyungsoo pulled up an image in the med-bay, the live feed showing the surgery in progress on Minseok.

“He did that with a blade. It caused such a complicated tear that they’ve been stitching and patching it for the hour you’ve been on that ship with no sign of stopping anytime soon.” Kyungsoo furrowed his brows, his worry replacing his fury, “I’m just worried. He’s dangerous and you’re already calling him by name and acting like his friend.” 

“I’m not his friend,” Chanyeol said sharply. “And I know he’s dangerous. It’s why I have his cabin on watch. If you think I trust him, you're dead wrong Soo. I know how to act around him. I’m going to be careful.”

—

Chanyeol’s first order of business was ensuring Minseok was stable for when the ship passed back out of the freeze, the reads on all of the instruments told them that only an Earthen day had passed since they’d entered and exited the time vacuum. Dr. Kim was working with Chanyeol’s researchers having been able to observe the freeze from the bridge. That whole team would begin pouring over the many documents written in Oeralese that Baekhyun reluctantly handed over to them. 

Minseok, when he woke up, was surprisingly optimistic about the situation. He’d be out of commission for a while, and would likely take a break while ERI refueled on Earth, but would be good to go once they were ready to get back into the sea of space. Chanyeol still nearly cried when he went to visit him though. “I thought you would die,” he had wailed. Minseok had placated him as best he could, praising how quickly Chanyeol was able to figure out a way to communicate with the alien and brushing off his worries. Even more surprisingly, he asked to meet Baekhyun.

The alien was allowed up to the medical bay and Chanyeol stepped aside to lead him into Minseok’s hospital room. Baekhyun offered no apologies, but Minseok didn’t seem bothered. If anything it seemed he found it refreshing.

“So you’re the one that stabbed me?”

“You speak like you would not have slaughtered me yourself.” 

Minseok cackled, “Oh, I would have. You just got lucky I have to answer to other people.” 

“You are lucky I rely solely on my hearing here in the void. Had my eyes been Open I’d have known your presence long before you were just above me,” Baekhyun said, shoulders tensing with annoyance. Minseok raised a brow, craning his neck to stare directly into Baekhyun’s eyes.

“You mean to say you’re blind?”

“I’m hypersensitive to the components of outer space; I can see what you cannot but because of my hypersensitivity to electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and cosmicrays I don’t process the smaller things as easily.” Baekhyun motioned around the room, “You are visible to me, but nominal in visual importance. I have to actually focus on you to get more than just a generalized area of being, you know?”

“I don’t, but I’ll take your word for it.”

“Is that why your ship didn’t have any sensors for radiation or navigational components that worked off of magnetism and the like?” Chanyeol question from the doorway, shifting his weight to the side.

“If that is what you use to visualize them then that is why I didn’t need them. I merely performed their duties already.” 

Minseok snapped his fingers in front of Baekhyun again. “You said something about opening your eyes but like, opening them? Whatever that means?” 

“My eyes, adjust? My body’s physiology adapts to the environment, breaks down and builds up again. On Eolin, I adapted with the Eolin visionary components, rods, cones, elasmobranchs, and tapetums.”

“Like fish,” commented Luhan, the doctor attending to Minseok, as he entered the room. Baekhyun cocked his head, the word unfamiliar to him since it had been said in Korean.

“He’s comparing you to the creatures that inhabit our oceans. They are called fish,” Chanyeol explained simply. Baekhyun nodded. Luhan began retreating Minseok’s room, ignoring the conversation they had been holding. At least, until Baekhyun pointed at the wound curiously,

“Why do you not just arrange a regenerative salve?” 

“A what?” Minseok and Chanyeol questioned at the same time. Minseok folded his arms and waited for an answer.

“A regenerative salve. The components were extremely common on Eoslin.” He began to list the components, and curiously, ERI actually held all of the ingredients to the salve. They sent for the ingredients to be pulled from their cargo bay and kitchens and upon their delivery, Baekhyun began to show Luhan how to create the salve, all the while talking as he did it.

“⊬⟟⌖⟟⋏☌,” He paused, changed his pronunciation a bit, “Yixing created it,” he clarified. “It was the building block for the rest of his theory. This salve is… laughable in effect on degenerative illness, but for large wounds it works like magic.” He ground the ingredients together smoothly, his movements showing the practice he’d had. “Yixing called it a failure of his ability but embraced it as the start to something larger. He was chasing immortality for the sake of our daughter. The plague was not kind to her. She was wasting away too fast, but he was still trying and she was still fighting when I left in search of glory.” 

“Tragic,” Minseok commented. Chanyeol cringed at his tone, but Baekhyun grinned, his smile infinitely more threatening than it had any right to be. “I agree.” He added another one of the ingredients to the thick sludge he’d been grinding up. Whatever it was—Chanyeol couldn’t tell—thinned the mixture significantly and in a few minutes, it was complete.

“Can we test it on something first?” Minseok said, eyeing the mixture dubiously. Baekhyun rolled his eyesbut raked his nails down his arm. As blood, a deep brown instead of the bright red like humans’, oozed up from the wound, Baekhyun dipped his fingers in the thin salve. It had about the consistency of syrup, so Baekhyun waited for the excess to drip off of his fingers before he smoothed it over the cuts. They began to seal almost instantaneously, the serum bubbling up as it engaged with the wound.

“But that just on me. Your species appears similar to mine, but we are clearly extremely different. Someone else can give themselves a small cut and test it?” Baekhyun said, passing the mixture over to Luhan and sitting back, wiping the bubbling serum off of his arm. Chanyeol tried not to stare at how his arm looked as good as new.

Chanyeol stepped up off the wall, offering his arm out to Baekhyun to draw a thin line down. The alien did so, quickly, and while Chanyeol felt the sharp bite of pain, he was able to school any reaction. He offered his arm to Luhan and let him apply the salve.

It worked as it had on Baekhyun, though slightly slower, requiring a minute or two to work the way it had on Baekhyun. Everyone deciding it was safe, they applied it to Minseok’s wound and bandaged it, understanding that it would still take a bit to heal properly. 

—

After the incident with Minseok, Baekhyun was scheduled to meet regularly with researchers to talk to them about himself as well as the civilizations he’d known in his time. if luck would have it, they could place at least the galaxy from which he’d come. At best they could probably narrow it down to which star system his planet orbited within.

It took a week or so into their journey back to Earth for Baekhyun to snap. Chanyeol had just put the ship on autopilot with direction to the night-shift monitoring officers to alert him in his personal quarters if anything went wrong when he stepped into his cabin and found Baekhyun sat cross-legged on his bed.

The alien waggled a finger at him menacingly, his annoyance palpable even to Chanyeol. “I’m tired of being poked and prodded by your blasted crew!” The alien snarled, standing up and leaning into Chanyeol’s space, poking one, thin finger into the taller man’s chest.

“They don’t even care about how I feel! Like, yeah, I stabbed one of your crew members and I was ready to snap your neck, but I’m not a dick! I was protecting myself. I don’t see why they can’t even engage in conversation with me!” Baekhyun ranted, throwing his hands up and beginning to pace the room. 

Chanyeol hadn’t seen this development coming, but he wasn’t exactly opposed to listening to Baekhyun as he ranted. “Everything about you people is study, study, study! Fuck! My people don’t even sleep in order to learn but we know when to engage with each other.” The alien growled in frustration, throwing himself back on Chanyeol’s bed as if he belonged there.

Chanyeol resolutely blocked his imagination from running with… that. He sat on the edge of the bed and unlaced his boots. “Okay, so let’s talk know,” He invited, kicking off his boots and falling back onto the bed, crossing his arms comfortably behind his head. Baekhyun seemed surprised because he didn’t answer for a good minute.

Then, “I’m finally realizing that everyone I love… loved is probably dead by now. Also, your researchers are so fucking blunt I’m getting told constantly how my race is a dead race and that I’ll probably never find anyone that has a living memory of my culture or home. That’s too humbling for me.”

“I can ask them to be more tactful?” Chanyeol hummed, he himself being a little worried about how the research team was approaching speaking with Baekhyun.

“I don’t want… tact. I just. I want a break. I want to learn of your species. We are going to your ‘Earth’ and just based off of the differences your researchers are fawning over I know that it will be nothing like my home.” Baekhyun propped himself up on his elbow, turning to look at Chanyeol quietly. “On my planet I was considered a god. On your planet I will be looked at as if I were an animal. You cannot tell me they will not see me that way, your crew already does.”

“Humans have long struggled to associate the unknown with sentience, much less empathy and conscience,” Chanyeol supplied as helpfully as he could. “It’s less you and more us. Human space exploration is still extremely new… it’s only been about five years since ships like mine were made possible, and ERI is the only one of her kind.” The implied ‘except for yours’ was left out.

“Sehrli are similar. We interacted only when necessary. We were seen as aloof or fickle.In reality we just closed our hearts to the Eolins. They were our kin by generations, but they were not like us. It hurts the heart and breaks the mind to watch them die when we loved them so.”

“So you stopped loving them?”

"We stopped loving anyone that was not our kind. We had no interest in heartbreak. Heartbreak is what killed more of us than anything else... Mothers wasting away after losing their children..." He lapsed into a momentary silence. "It is better for the heart not to love a mortal at all. Loss is more painful than death," Baekhyun said matter-of-factly. Both of them let the room lapse into silence. "What is Earth-like?" The alien finally asked.

“It used to be beautiful, but industrialization and poor resource allocation led to widespread famines in some parts of our world. It led to smog that burned the lungs. It led to the extinction of so many plants and animals that we’re in the middle of a mass extinction event. The Epidemic is sweeping even the most developed nations… and we in the ISA are doing everything we can to find a cure for it. If we can then we can begin relocation to other planets,” Chanyeol explained, his voice hoarse. “We’re looking for something that can help us halt the extinctions. We have the technology to revive all of these species, but… if the epidemic takes us all it will have no purpose.”

“You make your home sound like a wasteland.”

“It is not, but… I have been more focused on the dreary as of late. Let me rephrase. Earth as I know it is quite beautiful. We have beautiful arts, an assortment of languages and cultures—“

Baekhyun cut him off, surprised, “You speak multiple languages on your planet?” Chanyeol nodded slowly. “On Eolin, we adopted a common tongue across the planet, it was a simplified version of the Sehrli’s initial language. But my original language, Sehrli  was one that had dialects across the planet. I had never heard of another species that developed the same way, I apologize for interrupting.”

Chanyeol brushed him off with a smile, “No, I think it’s good that we can relate somewhere. As I was saying though, Earth is beautiful. We’ve made many technological advancements to help better our quality of life… I only wish to turn our attention to the wellness of our planet now. Otherwise our achievements will have no merit, no purpose.” Baekhyun hummed in agreement.

For a moment the two relaxed in the comfortable silence. Then Chanyeol felt a soft touch against his cheek. He refrained from flinching or turning to look at the alien, instead letting the other’s touch slowly explore. He felt gently along Chanyeol’s face, his cool fingertips brushing over the man’s cheekbones, the bridge of his nose, the smooth skin of his eyelids. “You remind me of him,” Baekhyun whispered, as if saying what he had was some great sin. Chanyeol didn’t have to ask to know who he was talking about. He still knew next to nothing about Yixing, but he was sure he’d learn more in time.

For now, he felt Baekhyun’s sorrow roll through his form like waves. The tenderness with which Baekhyun’s fingers traced his face and ran through his hair hurt even Chanyeol’s heart. Reminded him of what he didn’t have. It reminded him of the detachment he maintained with others. Baekhyun brushed his fingers against Chanyeol’s lips softly, and Chanyeol shifted his arms and took hold of Baekhyun’s wrist, holding it in place. He kissed the alien’s fingers softly, and then removed Baekhyun’s hand from his face. “You should return to your quarters. I’ll escort you,” He said. Baekhyun seemed poised to argue, confused as to what he’d done to cut short their time, but he rolled off of Chanyeol’s bed all the same and followed him quietly back to his quarters.

“Good night Baekhyun. Tomorrow we should reach the docking station. We’ll take a pod down to Earth.” The door slid shut and Chanyeol was left alone in the hallway.

—

“Have his protections been arranged, Jongin?”

“They have, I’ve just sent you all of his official documents. Print the cards I’ve sent you, make sure he has them on him at all times. There shouldn’t be any problems, but with tensions rising even in the ISA I don’t want to make it easier for any one nation to use him.”

“I understand, thank you Jongin. Will you be meeting us on the platform?”

“Sehun and I both, yeah. Sehun gets to body-guard. I’m like your tour guide. Officer Do won’t be coming down though.”

“I’m aware already. Thank you again, Jongin. I’ll see you soon. Since I have jurisdiction of Baekhyun for now I intend to go out as I please. ISA won’t be monitoring my movements.” There was a hum from the other end of the line, but Jongin didn’t argue. Chanyeol closed communications, printed Baekhyun’s documents, and then helped the alien into one of the pods. The rest of the crew that would be switching out here on Earth would leave in their pods in the following days; there was no rush for them.

Baekhyun seemed uncomfortable in the pod and far more sensitive to the actual trip down to Earth, the force at which they entered the atmosphere putting him on edge. Even Chanyeol was unused to the return to Earth, he did not often set foot on it when the ship was merely refueling and re-stocking on what they couldn’t already reproduce up within it.

Seeing Baekhyun’s face upon opening the capsule door made the trip worth it. He was in awe immediately, and Chanyeol watched as his eyes adjusted to best see what the planet was like. Nothing could have prepared him for having those eyes on him. “You’re beautiful,” Baekhyun said, smiling, raking his eyes over Chanyeol’s frame. The Captain frowned, but before he could say anything, Baekhyun was helping himself down the steps and onto solid ground.

ISA officials were on them in seconds, directing them down the landing strip and into the first facility. Jongin met up with them almost immediately, Sehun close behind him. “I’ve been talking with my father,” Sehun said softly, falling into step with Chanyeol while Jongin took up his place next to Baekhyun and began explaining things about the facility to him, “He wants Baekhyun out of the ISA’s sight as soon as possible. He’s been studying tensions between America, Korea, China and Russia and he thinks it's best if little gets out about Baekhyun for now.” Chanyeol nodded, helping to direct them all through another hallway, scanning his card. Considering he had high-level access they were able to ditch most of the ISA officers and aides at some point.

“How much is known about Baekhyun? Are they aware that he may be able to create a cure for our people?”

“Yeah, they know. ISA’s been tapping your ship since she went up in the air, you know?”

“I didn’t. Are we safe to talk while still in the facility?”

“We can talk here. The ISA is already aware that I use a piece of tech that disrupts their recorders because I’m paranoid. They won’t think anything of it. Anyways, I didn’t fit any of the surveillance to the ship, but when I realized it was there I couldn’t do anything about it that wouldn’t get Jongin or I killed. At the worst they’d have your ship shot down or possessed at a hub planet, so I’ve been playing nice.”

“I wasn’t aware that the ISA was being so… shady?” Chanyeol said, furrowing his brows and glancing back to make sure Baekhyun was still being taken care of. Jongin gave him a thumbs up as Sehun continued explaining,

“They’ve gotten worse. Jongin and I have been working with some of the other officials within the committee. It’s looking like not only is Earth about to go to war but it's looking like some of the representatives for different superpowers here are working with allies out in space. It’s looking like everyone’s just waiting for a way to ensure when they relocate on their own, they don’t poison the population they’re saving from the war.”

“I’m sorry, explain again?”

“Take the United States for example. They’ve been working quietly with the Nev’id and arranging for several officials and gifted in their population to be shuttled out to a host planet in the event of an interstellar war breaking out. They will go to war if they think they’ll come out on top,” Sehun stressed quietly, keeping his voice low as they were still in the ISA facility. “Everyone wants that cure though. Imagine you willingly start a war that’s going to decimate the Earth only to find out that someone is infected in the very small pool of people you sent to safety. Everything you did was for naught.”

Chanyeol nodded and pushed open the door to the parking garage, hurrying everyone across to his car. As soon as they were inside, Sehun was fitting a few small instruments around the car and turning them on, sitting back when a soft hum had filled the car. “I don’t know if they tapped your car yet, I’ll scan it when we get to your mother’s place?” Chanyeol nodded,

“That sounds fine.” As he pulled out of the parking garage he rolled down the windows, allowing the breeze into the car. Baekhyun seemed enchanted, quickly leaning against the window and watching the world pass by.

“Your planet is so colorful! It is much like Eolin!” Baekhyun exclaimed, grinning into the breeze. Chanyeol snorted, glancing over to Sehun and then back at Jongin, seeing the same mirrored curiosity. “The star here is not as hot as the stars that surround Eolin though, your planet is delicate in comparison,” He observed, holding his hand outside the window joyfully. “It’s been so long,” he sighed, crossing his arms on the door and resting his head atop them.

The entire drive passed peacefully. Sehun introduced Baekhyun to the popular songs on the radio while Jongin asked Baekhyun about the popular media of his time. He'd grown increasingly relaxed now that he was back on Earth. It still didn’t feel like home, not like ERI was, but he’d long since gotten used to the initial awkwardness of coming back.

The Park residence was simple and welcoming. Despite Chanyeol sending back a sizable sum of his paycheck to his parents, his mother had insisted on remaining in a relatively small home. Chanyeol couldn’t help but be glad. There was something special about being able to visit his childhood home whenever he came back.

“Hey Mom!” Chanyeol greeted when the door opened. It took a second for his mother to realize who she was looking at and work through the shock, but soon she was dragging him into a bone-crushing hug.

She weeped happily into his shoulder, which if she wasn’t a happy crier would have worried Chanyeol, “I’ve missed you so much!” She drew back and wiped her tears away, stepping to the side to let Chanyeol’s father greet him in another hug.

“Who’s this?” He heard her asking. Jongin explained before he could,

“This is Baekhyun, he’s from outer space. We’re escorting him around Earth before the ISA gets to researching about him.”

“If I can help it, the ISA won’t be getting their hands on him anyways,” Chanyeol commented, pulling back from his father. “I hear things are tense, so I want to keep him from starting a war. The plan’s to get back up in the air as quickly as possible,” He said softly. His parents both nodded. They probably understood better than even he the tension between the nations on Earth. “How’s Yoora?” He asked, pushing his way into the house gently. His parents both grinned,

“She’s been getting better. Come in, y’all,” they waved the rest of Chanyeol’s company in through the door and shut it softly behind them. “She’s not carrying any contagion, but she is still very ill. This has just been the most recent development,” Chanyeol’s mother prattled, leading them deeper into the house. Sehun and Jongin made themselves at home in the living room. After a moment of deliberation, Baekhyun followed Chanyeol and his parents down the hallway into a nice little bedroom.

The woman that rested in the bed bore striking resemblance to Chanyeol. It wasn’t hard for Baekhyun to conclude that this was his sister. Chanyeol greeted her lovingly, running his fingers through her hair. Baekhyun also leaned over her form, peeking at her closely from Chanyeol’s side.

Baekhyun flinched in surprise when she opened her eyes. Chanyeol would not have thought much of it until Baekhyun threw himself backwards, violent and terrified. “What are you doing?” Chanyeol shouted on reflex, only barely remembering to use Oeralese to communicate with the alien. Baekhyun looked terrified, his eyes wide and body trembling.

“She is ill with the Fading Fever,” the alien said, pointing at her. Chanyeol straightened up, shocked, pulling his hand away from his sister’s hair. Her eyes were wide, scared now. Chanyeol felt guilt run through his chest, but he stepped away, looking at Baekhyun questioningly. “Is your entire Earth suffering this illness?” He interrogated, anger blazing into his eyes as he pointed accusingly at Chanyeol.

“Not everyone is contagious? And no, Earth’s entire population is not ill from it, though it is widespread,” He shot back.

Baekhyun recoiled and hissed, “She is contagious!” He pointed at Yoora again, his teeth bared menacingly, so different from how he’d initially regarded the woman. “The Fever lies dormant and adapts to fool the instruments you use on it. I would know. The Fever’s cure was mine and Yixing’s life work.” He continued, his voice rising, “She cannot survive it. Not without a regenerative cure. I already know your people do not have access to such a thing! Do not touch her again, Chanyeol!”

“What’s he saying?” Sehun and Jongin had joined the Parks in the room, clearly as startled by Baekhyun’s outburst as they were.

“He’s telling me not to touch her, that the contagion is adapting to throw any of the tests developed to sense it. He says that this is the disease he was working to cure. This waswhat his and his lover’s life’s work was to cure.” Chanyeol said, stepping away. “Yoora, I’m going to figure this out okay! I love you, I’m going to come back and sit with you in a moment.” His sister—bless her heart— understood Chanyeol’s caution. She always did care more about him than herself.

Chanyeol ushered everyone into the hallway and back into the living room, instantly reeling on Baekhyun, “Explain.”

“The Fading Fever is a disease that decimated even the healthiest of Eolins. Yixing himself had fallen ill from it just before I left. My correspondence with him told me that it was killing him, excruciatingly slowly. The Fever is… parasitical by best definition. It… doesn’t follow the laws by which we typically bound different types of sickness.” Baekhyun jerked his head in the direction of Yoora’s room, “It is built to last. It develops with a speed my researchers had never before seen. Yixing developed many serums that killed one strain but only made another strain stronger.” Baekhyun was trembling, his shock so tangible that Chanyeol’s mother quickly left the room to make the alien some tea to calm his nerves.

Chanyeol translated what he had said calmly, even though his blood had run cold. Baekhyun continued as soon as he was finished, “The Fever was brought upon us by a parasite from one of the Oeralese trading partners. My daughter contracted it from the Oeralese diplomat. It was called the Queen’s Fever after spreading from her throughout the staff. The fever killed the weakest of her kind in days. The fever would kill Sehrli over the millennium. It could not be stopped.” Baekhyun had tears in his eyes now, the gravity of the situation finally becoming known to him.

"Yixing arranged for my research to occur on the EXODUS to ensure I did not contract the disease as he did. If I had and we both passed before a cure could be found our civilizations would be losing generations’ worth of research. It was imperative I survived him. When I became trapped in Halcyon I sent my completed research back with my crew. I did not need it, but they did.” Baekhyun sighed, “If the disease is present even today it must not have helped them. They would not hide a cure from others. It was not in our nature. By god, Yixing is truly dead.” With that, Baekhyun fainted. 


	2. ALCYONE AND MORPHEUS

Baekhyun blinked open his eyes and immediately asked something in his native tongue, remedying his mistake only after he saw Chanyeol’s confusion. “Where am I?” He said tentatively.

“You’re still in my home. You fainted,” The human said matter-of-factly, his face morphing into something more stoic. He didn’t want to appear overly worried for the alien. Baekhyun sighed, letting his head fall back onto the floor once more. Chanyeol got up off his knees and motioned for both Sehun and Jongin to follow him. They stepped out onto the porch, closing the front door for privacy from Chanyeol’s parents. Chanyeol had not translated once he realized Baekhyun was just panicking himself more, he hadn’t wanted to worry his parents.

“Jongin, you understood him, right?”

“I’ve been talking to him all day, haven’t I?” Jongin shot back, his own nerves appearing in the form of tapping feet. Chanyeol ran a palm through his hair, letting the situation sink in.

“Can someone fucking enlighten me?” Sehun snapped.

“Baekhyun’s people were likely wiped out by that disease. He’s adamant that Yoora remains contagious, which means my parents have likely been infected at this point… which means even I have likely been infected,” Chanyeol leaned against the closed door, his shoulders slumping. “He spoke of how it originally infected his planet, how it infected his daughter, how it infected his lover. Sehun, he described devoting thousands of years to research this disease. _Thousands of years._ We’ve only been working on a cure for, what? Two decades at the most?”

“We’ve made exceptional breakthroughs. Just because it’s taken him thousands of years doesn’t mean it has to take as long for us,” Sehun retorted, trying to salvage what he could of Chanyeol’s hope. “Can we haul him out of there and get you back on the ship? This isn’t something I want out to the ISA and you sure as hell need to get out of here if our alien friend is going to flip the fuck out.”

“We’ve been on the ground for a little over three hours, don’t you think it’ll look a _little_ suspicious to haul ass back up to space? Are you forgetting I have to get clearance from the ISA to even go back up?” Chanyeol sniped, his frustration evident in his clenched fists and furrowed brows. Sehun began to chew his lip, stepping back and crossing his arms. He stared off down the street, thinking. Then he blinked.

“Jongin, you didn’t arrange for any of our… friends at the ISA to follow us here, right?” Both Jongin and Chanyeol were too well-trained to immediately whip their heads around in the direction Sehun was looking. They could guess what he was seeing though.

“No.”

“Get Baekhyun. We can leave through the alley. I’ll call one of our contacts.” Sehun said quietly, turning back to face them. Chanyeol shoved the front door open quickly.

“Mother, Father! I’m leaving. Tell Yoora I love her and I’ll be back. When they knock at the door stall them!” He didn’t offer any explanation, only stooping down to curl his arm around Baekhyun’s midriff and haul him up over his shoulder.

The alien wiggled petulantly “What in heavens are you doing, human!” He must have seen both Sehun and Jongin behind him though and stopped moving immediately. He remained quiet until Chanyeol was _literally_ throwing him over the chain link fence separating the backyard from the alleyway. At that he floundered and just barely caught himself. He turned on Chanyeol almost immediately, eyes glimmering with fury.

“Come on,” Chanyeol said, pointing in the direction of the city, “Don’t ask questions.” Jongin and Sehun both vaulted the fence (far less gracefully) behind them. With that they set off at a brisk walk in the direction of the nearest busy road. Baekhyun kept close to Sehun, still eyeing Chanyeol warily. He looked over his shoulder ever so often, curious as to why everything had so suddenly changed.

The crowds seemed to put everyone at ease, just a little bit. Sehun pulled out his phone and quickly entered a number, waiting for it to dial. “Tae, hi. I need a place to go. Now.” He waited a few moments then, seemingly satisfied, ended the call. “We’re going to a friend’s house. I want to ditch all our clothes and destroy our tech as soon as possible.”

No sooner than he had pocketed the phone did Jongin get shoved roughly by a passerby. As everyone in the group turned to look at the retreating figure’s back, Baekhyun yelped. Chanyeol whipped around, only just grabbing onto the alien’s shirt (courtesy of ERI’s wardrobes) before he was dragged away.

“Fire!” Jongin screamed immediately, catching the attention of those around them. Almost immediately after realizing what was going on, passerby were helping tear whoever had grabbed Baekhyun away from him. Chanyeol wasn’t going to wait to thank him. Jongin grabbed Baekhyun and dragged him off. Chanyeol followed, his feet hitting the pavement in hard, quick steps. They ducked into another alley and came out on another street. At that point, they were left alone. Sehun quickly set to camouflaging them.

Watching Sehun literally buy the clothes off of people’s backs was not what Chanyeol had expected the day to go like, but here he was. Within an hour of walking throughout the city, Sehun had gotten them _all_ new wardrobes and a backpack. Chanyeol mentally noted that if he ever had to disappear _again_ he’d immediately have to get Sehun with him. Chanyeol was quick to call Kyungsoo.

“‘Soo—no, nothing’s wrong—well yes there is something actually. I need you to take ERI out of port. I want her inaccessible to the ISA. Run a scanner and destroy and surveillance you find; reboot the mainframe when you can. After that make sure she’s in a defensive position. If ISA tries to contact you, say nothing. I’ll get back to you soon.”

They changed in a public restroom and then ditched their clothes and tech in the trash cans. As quickly as they came, they were gone. Baekhyun was obviously still confused. They hadn’t stopped to explain anything to him, so his confusion wasn’t that surprising. They didn’t stop now, they still had places to be, and they had no idea how Baekhyun would react if he knew he was basically being hunted down right now.

Sehun’s friend turned out to be Kim Taeyeon, a former ISA diplomat that Chanyeol had worked with multiple times before. She greeted them on the fire-escape and let them in through the window, shutting and locking it behind them. Jongin and Sehun began to catch her up on what was going on, walking off to talk in the kitchen. Chanyeol turned his attention on Baekhyun.

The alien’s eyes drooped and he swayed on his feet subconsciously. Chanyeol recognized the warning signs of another fainting spell and quickly helped the alien to curl up on the couch. After he’d fixed him a glass of water and watched him drink it, Chanyeol began to explain. “The ISA is causing problems for us right now. We’re stuck on Earth for now. Are you positive Yixing must be dead, that the cure cannot exist?” Chanyeol didn’t censor his words. They had to figure something out and Baekhyun’s feelings didn’t particularly matter in the long run.

The alien sighed, “The only reason Yixing’s cure would not have spread the galaxy by now is if he were dead, if he was forced into hiding, or if he was physically being kept from doing so.”

“Okay, well that’s two more options than none. How would you get into contact with him if he is alive?”

“My transmitter. It’s on your ship,” Baekhyun said blamefully, “You had asked me not to bring my research down since we wouldn’t be on this planet for long.” He let his head fall back on the armrest, clearly thinking about how best to help the situation. “I could give directions on how to begin rebuilding it to someone up there or I could attempt to replicate the tech down here.”

“Taeyeon, have you got an unlisted comm here?”

“I do, here,” She scrounged around in the other room and then tossed the piece of equipment to him from the doorway. He caught it carefully, smiling, “Thanks!” Chanyeol passed the comm over to Baekhyun.

“What can you do with this?”

“If you have Pliusium and Robrum wires I can start the hardware. I’ll also need Iodrite and Sedrite to begin making the components I need to run any softwares,” Baekhyun explained, turning the communication device over in his hands, prying it open with a fluidity that told Chanyeol he had done a lot of technical building prior this moment. “I also need Lapralt, but I know you will not have harvested it. I can use my earrings for now.” The alien took the pieces of jewelry from his ear, and again, witch strength surprising for his stature, began to warp the metal between his fingers.

Chanyeol wrote down the four elements they’d need to find and took it to the other room. Jongin glanced over the list, “Robrum is really similar to copper. You can substitute them without any issues. I’ve never heard of Pliusium, Iodrite, or Sedrite though?” He passed Chanyeol’s list over to Taeyeon. She glanced at the Oeralese characters for a moment before looking up.

“Pliusium is common down on Earth now, we named it Russium. It’s a common import from Russia,” She explained. “I actually have some in my workroom. It’s considered a cheap metal out in space because it’s so abundant. So, as you can imagine, it goes by hundreds of names.” Chanyeol waved Baekhyun up from the couch, inviting him to follow them into the workroom.

Kim Taeyeon may have been a diplomat, but she was _exceptionally_ talented with her hands. It didn’t surprise Chanyeol all that much that she had the futuristic version of a carpenter’s workshop in her home. Baekhyun was quick to begin taking a look at her stock. He fished out the Russium, adding it to his growing pile of materials. Chanyeol pointed out the copper wires that he could substitute in place of the Robrum.

Baekhyun came up empty-handed when looking for both the Iodrite and the Sedrite, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it. Instead he began fishing around for the other metals and tools that Taeyeon’s shop held. Before too long, they were the only ones in the room. Baekhyun had invited him over to the worktable and now stood pointing out the different components of the comm and how he would hybridize it.

“Here’s where the transistor details will have to get etched. Your communicator already has some, but they’re a specific pattern to best suit your communicators use. I have to write in my own.” Baekhyun pulled out a few tools and set them out. He then pointed at the new motherboard he’d begun building. “If you want to help, I need you to start attaching the components I finish. Your friend has already given me a plasma circuit, so you can begin attaching that now.”

He said it less like a request and more like a command, but Chanyeol did as he asked without question. He sat down on one of the stools and began to work quietly.

“I apologize for causing a scene earlier. I had not imagined I would see the Fever ever again. I thought it would be eradicated with my people. It’s foolish considering you’ve already told me you know the Oeralese,” Baekhyun laughed humorlessly.

Chanyeol shook his head, “You’re fine. I think you just freaked my parents out. It’s not often your son brings home an alien on to have them start screaming the second your daughter opens her eyes.”

Baekhyun laughed drily and fell silent. Awkwardness consumed them, both of them wanting to talk, but not knowing what to say.

“The fever has a different effect on your kind it seems. You’re such fragile beings, but it doesn’t seem to have adapted to kill your kind yet. Just… weaken them for now,” Baekhyun observed. “My daughter’s strain of the disease was like that. It’s why Yixing thought we could save her. When we realized the later strains were far more weaponized against her kind, Yixing changed his research. Suspended his work on her specific strain and began developing temporary cures to stave those more violent types.”

“That must have been a challenging decision,” Chanyeol mumbled.

“Yixing always made the hard decisions. I’m too selfish,” Baekhyun said softly, pausing to focus on what he was working on. “You remind me of him. Just more stoic, but I have a feeling you’re just cautious of letting your emotions run free.”

“You think very highly of me for someone who described me as oafish and clumsy only a few weeks ago.”

“You are still oafish and clumsy, but I’m more used to it now,” Baekhyun grinned.

They worked for several hours. Well into the night, sharing little tid-bits about themselves. Baekhyun talked about his daughter Sooyoung as lovingly as Chanyeol did his older sister. There was a level of understanding the two of them shared, both of their families so touched by the plague. It was only when Taeyeon brought them a few blankets and pillows that they seemed to realize how late it was.

Chanyeol helped Baekhyun set up his palette and settle in, but it wasn’t until he heard the other fidgeting that he remembered what Baekhyun had said only a short time after they’d met. “I forget you do not sleep as much when you have something to do,” Chanyeol mumbled, his eyelids drooping tiredly. Baekhyun laughed softly, more a huff of air than a real laugh. Chanyeol cracked his eye open to meet Baekhyun’s own eyes. They sparkled with mirth and something more. Something Chanyeol hadn’t expected to see, nor did he really know how to react to.

Baekhyun settled down on his side, pulling the blankets up over his shoulder. They were so close. Chanyeol could see the slight shimmer of Baekhyun’s skin, even in the dark. He could see the wonder, the affection, in the other’s eyes. He moved slowly, without really thinking.

Baekhyun kissed tenderly, gently. He didn’t push or pull, merely allowed Chanyeol to slot their mouths together, parted his lips to give him more access. Chanyeol brought his hand up to Baekhyun’s jaw, brushing his thumb against the man’s cheekbone tenderly. He then slid that same hand into Baekhyun’s hair, pulling softly at the alien’s silvery-hair. The motion seemed to awaken something in Baekhyun. He pulled back ever so slightly before meeting Chanyeol’s lips again, more hungrily. This Baekhyun was domineering. This Baekhyun had easily taken over leading the kiss.

Chanyeol moaned, the sound far too loud in such a quiet home. The sound seemed to bring Baekhyun back to himself, because he pulled away quickly, his lips swollen, his eyes wide. He stared at Chanyeol for a moment, his face unreadable, and shook his head. “☌⍜ ⏁⍜ ⌇⌰⟒⟒⌿,” he mumbled softly, then again but in Oeralese, “Go to sleep Chanyeol.” The rejection stung, but Chanyeol wouldn’t let it show. He turned over to face away from the alien, resolutely ignoring the feeling of the other’s eyes on his back.

The other sighed softly, as if he had something more to say, but nothing came. Chanyeol closed his eyes and let sleep take him quickly.

—

Chanyeol woke up to the sound of Jongin’s surprised exclamation, “You have a signal?” Chanyeol rolled over and blinked open his eyes, taking in the scene. Baekhyun looked worse-for-wear, exhaustion marring his features, but in his hands he held the communication device.

A soft hum emit from the device as Chanyeol scrambled to his feet and came to stand beside everyone else. He didn’t meet Baekhyun’s eyes, still embarassed about the night before.

“Yes, I was able to isolate Yixing’s specific signal a few minutes ago. I attempted to contact him, but my end cut out before I could connect. I need to get out in space, all of my instruments were designed to work out there, without the interference of planetary signals and the like.”

“Well, that’s a problem. Does finding the signal mean he’s alive?”

“It could. It could also be his tech repurposed elsewhere. I can’t say for sure, and I’d rather not get my hopes up.” Baekhyun clarified, thumbing at the buttons on the device. He seemed to have added a few external components that Chanyeol knew had not existed prior, but otherwise, the device looked fairly normal.

Sehun paced, “Chanyeol, you can put in a call to Kyungsoo, right? Could they land ERI for us? Or send us a pod that can land outside of the base?”

Chanyeol nodded his head slowly, “I can, but I’ll need to go to a public payphone or one of those shady communication hubs where they’ll mask your location. I’msure the second I a call gets through to him they’ll be attempting to track it.”

Sehun clapped his hands together. “Taeyeon and I will escort you out, I’m sure she knows the land better than we do. Jongin and Baekhyun can stay here?” Chanyeol translated for Baekhyun before Jongin could protest. The alien nodded quickly; Jongin took one look from everyone in the room and quieted any complaints he may have had.

As soon as Chanyeol had stepped out the door, Sehun was turning on him. “What the hell did you do last night that now you two won’t even look at each other?”

“Nothing.” Chanyeol walked briskly towards the complex’s stairwell.

Taeyeon snorted, “That’s not nothing. You wear your heart on your sleeve.” Her tone gentled, “We can tell when something’s bothering you. Baekhyun? I don’t know him as well, but he looked… off as well.”

Chanyeol sighed, “We had an argument. Nothing more nothing less. It’s not something to be concerned about.”

Sehun scoffed, “If you aren’t going to tell us I’m sure Jongin is going to be able to weasel it out of Baekhyun.”

"We kissed. It was a lapse of judgment. More curiosity than anything else. I'm not interested in pursuing an alien... especially one we do not know the motive of. No matter how interesting they may be." Sehun snorted, but they left it at that.

—

By the time they got back it was well into the evening, “Good news and bad news. Kyungsoo is willing to navigate down to Earth. Problem is that he won’t be able to land here in America since the ISA basically crawls all over this place,” Sehun said, walking in. Baekhyun wasn’t in the room, but Jongin looked unconcerned, and so Chanyeol knew he must just be elsewhere in the home.

“We can get a flight to Korea though. They have a much smaller port there. It’s practically run and secured by the science community,” Chanyeol began, “Not only will they _not_ sell us out, but they might actually be able to help us into the air without having ERI dock first. She’s not exactly inconspicuous.” That statement had everyone agreeing across the board. Before Jongin could even ask how they’d get through airport security, Sehun was explaining, “The Seoul Science Committee is going to send us a private flight. We have passes to drive directly onto the tarmac. We should not have to deal with anything.”

Chanyeol left the others to figuring out the logistics and made his way back into the workroom where both he and Baekhyun had slept. He found the alien tinkering quietly with another device, one Chanyeol knew they hadn’t asked him to make.

“It’s rude to stare.” Chanyeol blushed but powered forwards, stepping up to the worktable and peering down at whatever Baekhyun was making.

“What’s this?”

“It’s an instrument. To play… music,” The alien said softly, demonstrating by pulling one of the bows from it’s slot; as he drew it out, the grating metal made a noise similar to that of a whistle. It was like no instrument Chanyeol had ever seen, let alone played. He nodded dumbly, content to watch as Baekhyun demonstrated how it was played.

It was loud as hell, and yet, despite the decidedly metallic sound it produced, something in it reminded Chanyeol of a violin or other strings instrument; the screetchiness to its tune blended together, created something far more enchanting than Chanyeol had expected upon seeing the contraption. “What’s it called?”

Baekhyun shrugged, as if it had never had a name, as if his people had never called it anything. “We created it aboard the GENESIS, it has no name… we were never concerned with giving it one.”

“Then why make it?” Chanyeol questioned, his voice sharp with confusion.

“To enjoy it. Why else? Not all research must have some divine outcome. If I wish to create and explore for the sake of my own enjoyment is that not valid?” Baekhyun shot back, finally looking up at the human.

Chanyeol couldn’t stop it from slipping out, “Then why can you not explore for the sake of your own pleasure, Baekhyun. Why did you pull away if you and I were enjoying ourselves?” He snapped his mouth shut immediately after, a blush threatening to rise up his cheeks.

Baekhyun stared.  “I have a partner, Chanyeol. A life-mate. Another half.” His words made Chanyeol flinch back, despite the human’s attempt to forget all that had happened, to leave it at the awkward stage with no resolution.

“You don’t even know where he is, if he is even alive and you are still concerned with him?”

Baekhyun shoved him, hard. His eyes were alight with fury and something else, fear probably. Fear that Chanyeol was right. Fear that Yixing may very well be dead and gone… likely was dead and gone. “How dare you?!” He snarled, his accent thick with rage. “Do you expect me to fall into your arms after you say something like that?” He shoved Chanyeol again, finding a cold satisfaction with the way the human seemed to shrink in on himself and realize his mistake.

“Do you think I am interested in you, Human? What if I am merely passing the time, exploring a curiosity only to be disappointed? What if you are nothing that I am looking for? What if you are merely arrogantly assuming that I _may_ feel something for _you?_ ” His tirade pulled no punches, he had planted the seed of doubt in Chanyeol’s heart. He expected the human to merely gather himself and drop the topic.

He did not expect him to reel around and shove Baekhyun back, artfully pinning him against the worktable, his eyes blazing with anger, his grip tough as steel. Baekhyun bared his teeth, animalistic, refusing to submit.

Chanyeol kissed him.

It was nothing like it had been the night before. Their teeth clacked together painfully, angry and passionate. Like they had been away for thousands of years, as if they were meant to be together once more. Kissing Baekhyun felt like the first time he’d gone to space, exhilarating, enlivening, real. For Baekhyun, kissing Chanyeol felt like returning home. This time he did not break the feeling. Instead he let his eyes flutter shut, guided Chanyeol into a more relaxed kiss, losing none of the passion as he did so. Only convincing the other that they need not bloody their lips painfully when Baekhyun would accept him like this: easily, comfortably, generously. 

Chanyeol braced one hand against the table and slipped the other around Baekhyun’s waist, gently drawing him closer; he made it so that Baekhyun’s back no longer dug painfully into the ledge. They continued to kiss, unhurried now, both of them knowing that neither would draw back; they had not resolved their tension, no… if anything they had much more to talk about now than before… but they could postpone it for a while longer.

“You’re not him,” Baekhyun whispered against Chanyeol’s jaw, moving to press soft kisses there. The human moaned softly, even as his body tensed at the other’s words. 

“I’m not him,” Chanyeol agreed, his voice deep and heavy with lust. He nibbled at Baekhyun’s ear and rebalanced them both so that Baekhyun could stand. Their lips met again, another kiss full of lust and laced with venom.

“You will _never_ be him,” Baekhyun continued smoothly, biting at Chanyeol’s lip meanly. The human’s mouth only fell open wider, pleasure alighting his reactions. He fisted a hand in Baekhyun’s silvery hair, twisted it painfully, and kissed him again.

“I don’t _have_ to be him to make you want me.”

“And I’m going to stop you here even though I have no idea what the hell you just said.” Both of them jerked apart as if burned. Baekhyun quickly turning his back on Chanyeol and picking up his project again. The human turned and glared meanly at Sehun where he stood with a shit-eating grin on his face. “‘I’m not interested in pursuing an alien’, my ass, Chanyeol.”

“Do _not_ get into it, Sehun. Is there a reason you’re interrupting?” Chanyeol hissed, mentally rejoicing that he’d not blushed like a schoolgirl at being caught.

Sehun remained unfazed, “Actually, yes, lover-boy. We have a flight the day after next to get out of here. One of the benefactors for the community there is sending us a private jet. I’ve received instructions to a private runway as well where they’ll pick us up.” Chanyeol nodded, suddenly serious. He translated their plans to Baekhyun, who merely nodded in acknowledgement. Sehun continued on, “Taeyeon wants us out though. She’s not in a position that really provides us the safety we need around Baekhyun. I have a contact, Kim Suho? I don’t know much about him other than that Taeyeon is absolutely positive he is safe for us to travel with. He’ll be escorting us to the airstrip and joining us on ERI” The name wasn’t familiar to Chanyeol, so he shrugged.

“I trust whoever you trust. It’s not like I’ve been playing politics here on Earth for very long. Are we leaving tonight to meet him?”

“Yeah. I came to tell y’all to pack what you need. I don’t think Baekhyun has much other than the clothes on him and you have all the files he brought over, correct?” Chanyeol nodded. Sehun grinned, “Ok cool, so make sure y’all are ready, meet me at the door in like ten. We’re going to drive Taeyeon’s extra truck out and then go off on foot. We’re also going to split up. You’re coming with me and Jongin’s going to take Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol paused “Why are we splitting up?” Sehun glanced at him and crooked an eyebrow curiously.

“They’ll be looking for you and him. If you two are together they are at a _severe_ advantage. If they only get one of you, the opposite is true. You are the only captain with a ship capable of protecting a colony, and your crew is loyal to you, not the ISA. Even if they developed a cure from Baekhyun’s research, they wouldn’t be able to do anything without you.” His reasoning sounded solid enough, so Chanyeol nodded, acquiescing.

“Fine; if anything happens though, Sehun…”

“Nothing will. I promise.”

***

It took all of ten minutes after they ditched the truck for Sehun’s plan to go to hell. Jongin and Baekhyun had already split from he and Chanyeol, which was as worrying as it was relieving when everything fell to shit. Sehun walked ahead of Chanyeol, his back straight, alert to everything around them… and yet, not alert enough. Chanyeol spotted the woman a beat before she had her gun out and fired.

Sehun and he began running immediately. His steps thudded against the ground, serving just enough warning for people to move out of his way. Sehun matched him in stride, ducking when another shot was fired. “Are they really fucking firing into a crowd?” Sehun hissed, shoving a man blocking his path, delighting minutely as the civilian stepped forward to pick a fight and blocked their pursuit, if only momentarily.

Chanyeol took the small distraction to drag Sehun into a shop. The clerk looked up, her eyes wide and shocked. “Let us into the upstairs room. Is it storage or housing?”

“Housing.” She answered quickly, even as she glanced behind them, clearly looking for an out. Sehun stepped forward, procuring a pistol from its holster. Chanyeol didn’t think he would use it on her… Sehun didn’t have a mean bone in his body. However, the threat was enough for her to pass them a key and point them into a back room. The second they disappeared into the hallway, they heard the shop bell betray her departure. It was only a matter of minutes now before the people trailing them would surround the building and sweep the upstairs rooms.

So Chanyeol skipped the stairs to the second floor entirely, instead flinging open a door and searching for a place to hide.

Sehun popped open a vent and fit himself inside, wary of the tight fit. Chanyeol replaced the cover and went on to find a place for himself. He was immediately confronted, “Who are you?” The girl was young, probably in her teens if anything.

“No one dangerous.” He said softly, his fear as palpable as hers. His time was running out, it was only a matter of time before the store clerk found the pursuit and led it to him. The bell in the front rang, and Chanyeol’s horror must have shown on his face, because in the next second the young girl was dragging him by the hand upstairs.

“Here, just, get under my bed? I’ll make sure they don’t find you.” She said, pushing him down to the carpet. He slid under, having no other choice. Then a scream so loud it hurt his ears. A second later, he heard glass shatter and land on the carpet. The window pane? He listened, holding his breath as footsteps thudded up the stairs. The girl who had hid him was wailing, cowering in the corner away from the bed and pointing at the window, an A-list actress. Chanyeol found it hard to conceal his amazement.

“He just dropped out the window!” She screeched, “Go get him!” And by god, that shouldn’t have worked as well as it did. Almost immediately, whoever had entered the room was leaving it. Before Chanyeol could move though, the girl hissed, “Stay there. They know there’s two of you. They’re looking for the other guy now. I’m sure they’ll question me too. Stay here. I’ll come get you when it’s safe.”

She continued to sniffle as she left the room, and again Chanyeol marveled at her acting.

She was also right about them returning. It felt like ages since he’d initially hidden in the house, but they did reappear, their polished black shoes moving across the carpet. His adrenaline skyrocketed again, and he honed his focus to controlling his breathing.

 _One. Two. Three._ Deep breath, his lips parted to keep the air from whistling through his nose. Hold it. _One. Two. Three._ Let it out, slowly. Not a sound.

The shoes stopped at the foot of the bed, Chanyeol bit his lip, forgetting to take a breath as fear pulsed through his body.

They stepped away and it took everything for Chanyeol not to sigh aloud in relief.

“Do they have the other two?” Chanyeol flinched at the woman’s voice; probably the same woman that had shot at Sehun earlier. “Put a warning out to the public that an injured criminal may attempt to break into their homes. Hopefully we’ll get a call from a hospital or urgent care though, people can’t just hunker down with a bullet wound like that.” Chanyeol’s eyes widened, his blood running cold. _No._

“What about the other one, did he get tagged? No? They split up? Don’t put a notice out on him… I don’t want the general public knowing about his presence yet. You never know what those extraterrestrial-rights activists will stir up if word gets out. Yes, we’re returning to command now. Thank you.” Her footsteps retreated from the room. Chanyeol remained under the bed for another good hour before he heard footsteps approaching once more. Two sets of feet.

The door shut softly and the girl crouched down and motioned for Chanyeol to crawl out. When he did, he was instantly greeted by Sehun, instead of the dreaded ISA agent he’d feared. They shared a look of relief and Sehun slid down the wall to huddle over his knees, his exhaustion and fear just as apparent as Chanyeol’s.

“Who are y’all?”

“Oh Sehun. That’s Captain Park Chanyeol.”

“You’re lying.” Chanyeol and Sehun both glanced at the girl incredulously.

“Why in the fuck would we lie? That runs the risk of you calling _them_ back and selling us out. This is the most honest I’ve been in years with anyone I’ve just met. Who the hell are you, then?” Sehun snapped.

“I’m Lu Xiuying. My brother’s in the ISA. He’s _supposed_ to be on _your_ ship?” She said accusingly, pointing between the two of them.

“Luhan is your brother?” Chanyeol said, shocked. “And he is on my ship. I’m just… not.”

“Yeah. Now if you’re not on your ship, and people in suits are chasing you through the streets with guns out… what the hell did y’all do and should I have sold you out.”

“ISA officials. We’re on the run, trying to make it back to ERI before they dissect the alien we brought back or start a war or something.”

“You brought back an alien,” Xiuying looks instantly more welcoming, her distrust melting away as they talk.

“I’m so happy you chose to ignore the fact that we’re on the run to coo about the alien as if he were a dog,” Sehun comments drily. She rolls her eyes at him.

“Luhan was always shit-talking the ISA when he came home. I don’t doubt they’re being the assholes in this situation.” Sehun scoffed even as Chanyeol grinned and said “I like her.” She seemed pleased with the compliment but then stiffened at the sound of footsteps. Sehun leapt for the closet while Chanyeol immediately dropped back under the bed.

“Xiu? Did I hear voices?”

“No, Mama. Maybe it was someone on the street?”

“Hm… yeah, maybe. Are you sure you’re all right dear?”

“Positive. It was scary but he didn’t do anything but break out the window. He didn’t even lay a hand on me, Mama.” There was the sound of clothes rustling and Chanyeol guessed Ms. Lu was drawing her daughter into a tight hug. It wasn’t long before she retreated, telling Xiuying to make sure she finished her homework and got to bed quickly.

Sehun and he helped themselves out of hiding. Xiuying sat down at her desk. “So all fun aside, I don’t know if you heard the agents and I know y’all haven’t seen the news report, but your friend? I’m assuming? Was injured in a ‘shoot-out.’” She said, helpfully making airquotes with her fingers as she said ‘shoot-out.’

“Shoot-out, my ass, Jongin was probably just walking like anybody else. They were aiming to kill us and capture y’all,” Sehun snarled, nodding his head at Chanyeol. “And that means Baekhyun’s completely off the radar?”

“That’s what the officer was saying on her phone when she was giving a last look around this room,” Chanyeol explained. “She also mentioned that one of them, Jongin obviously, had been shot. They’ve got urgent care and other emergency services alerted. There’s no way he can get help anywhere but in someone’s living room. Sehun cursed. Xiuying watched them quietly.

“Does your Jongin friend have a cell?”

“No. It’d get tracked,” Sehun said, like she was dumb. The girl threw her hands up.

“Oh, shoot me for trying to help, Jesus,” She groaned and leaned back in her chair, idly spinning back and forth while they figured out what to do. “I can call Yerim, her older brother just got back from doing research up in space. He might be able to help you guys out, let you stay at his?”

“We have someone we were supposed to home with, but Baekhyun doesn’t know where to go and he’s our primary problem.”

“Ok, well, let me call Yerim since you guys need to get out of here before my mother finds you and has a heart attack. You can leave at like four in the morning, when mother and father are both home and asleep. Dad gets in at three on normal schedules, so, until I’m sure he won’t catch you guys, you have to stay here.”

She calls her friend and they have a house set up to take them come four the next morning. A few seconds after she ends the call, she’s pulling a hoodie over her head and letting her hair down to at least partially obscure her face. “What does this Baekhyun look like? I can go walk around the area they sent the alert out for and see if I can find him?”

Sehun and Chanyeol both shared a look, weighing the risks of letting Baekhyun’s identity get out to too many people. Sehun nodded. Chanyeol began to describe him, “He’s wearing sweatpants and a black T-shirt right now. His skin glitters kind of like Edward from _Twilight_ but more like highlighter make-up everyone uses than full-on glitter.” He ignores Xiuying’s snicker and continues, “Silver hair, looks kind of fake. He’s got grey eyes right now, but he’s also said he can adapt to his environment which means he might be able to just… hide in plain sight and none of this is relevant or accurate,” Chanyeol says, worry seeping into his tone.

“Ok, well if I might not be able to recognize him, is there anything he’d recognize? Something that would make me look like a friend and not a foe?”

It takes Sehun a moment; Jongin had the bag with everything in it, so they don’t have anything _obvious_ to give her. Then he lights up. “Give me your hand.” She offers it wordlessly, though her confusion is easy to read. Chanyeol is confused too; he has no idea what Sehun is doing.

Until he does. Sehun is writing, albeit shakily and only half legibly, an Oeralese character. One that, when unaccompanied by anything else simply meant peace. “If anyone asks you’re just an activist for the slave-people of outer space,” Sehun explains. “This means peace, we use it on our diplomats since Oeralese is so recognizable as a language. Chanyeol, this is right, right?”

Chanyeol nods, face lit up with giddiness. It is, and it’s so clever an idea that he wants to kiss Sehun. Sehun seems to read his mind and makes a face to deter him. It doesn’t, and Chanyeol smacks a wet one right on his cheek, grinning at the whispered shriek Sehun lets out to avoid waking the Lu’s but to make sure his disgust gets across.

Xiuying laughs and then she’s telling them she’s leaving and she’ll walk around a bit. See if she can find Baekhyun; see if he’ll approach her.

The wait is excruciating. She had told them if she wasn’t back by four, for them to just leave. If ISA agents were still looking for Baekhyun and they thought she looked suspicious, they had held no doubt she’d be taken in for questioning (especially once someone recognized her from the search earlier, during the day). Time was ticking.

So fast that it became increasingly apparent that Chanyeol and Sehun weren’t going to see her again before the hour came for them to leave.

Watching the clock change to “4:00” on its digital screen was just as disheartening as they’d imagined. Xiuying wasn’t back. Baekhyun hadn’t been found. At the same time, Chanyeol worried about what had kept the girl out. The ISA was a threat, yes, but so were the criminals that roamed out at night.

“Come on, she said this was our best window of opportunity. Let’s get out of here. We’ll find him soon,” Sehun said, helping Chanyeol off the floor. Both of them went to the window, unlatching the shutters Xiuying had clasped in place (given her window was… broken), and letting themselves down the wall carefully, landing softly in the street below.

“Hey!” Both of them dropped low to the ground, glancing in the direction of the voice as they did so. Two figures approached them, both of them short and unassuming. Xiuying and Baekhyun. Relief crashed through Chanyeol like a wave. Baekhyun was quick to curl into Chanyeol’s side, his little breath of relief both worrying and relaxing Chanyeol. What _had happened_ while they were separated.

“Holy shit, you found him,” Sehun praised as the girl appeared. She was grinning, clearly proud of herself. Chanyeol hugged her gratefully, “If you give me your number I’ll make it so that you and Han can call, crew normally doesn’t get the chance, but you’re such a help—“

“I’d love that, thank you!” She ran inside the house and a few minutes later passed a sticky note with her number and the address to Yerim’s house down to them. She retreated from the window frame and then passed them an envelope with Luhan’s name on it as well as a small backpack.

“Inside there’s a few survival things. Han had me put it together because he’s always said if the ISA gets rid of him that we need to go into hiding.”

“Is everyone more wary of the ISA than I am?”

“We thought you were up their ass until a few months ago, don’t take it personally,” Sehun explained. Both of them waved their goodbyes to Xiuying, even Baekhyun, where he had waited quietly for them to finish offered her an accented goodbye. The second she had left the window, they were dragging the alien down the street.

“Hold on? This address is the same as Kim Suho?” Sehun said, finally peering down at the address she’d written down.

Chanyeol paused, curious, “Is it actually?”

“Yeah… well. We’ll know for sure in a few minutes. It’s about a forty-five minute walk from here.”

—

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Chanyeol deadpanned once the door opened.

“Oh, ha, that’s Junmyeon,” Sehun grinned, “I didn’t know you went by Suho,” Sehun said as he stepped inside, “Has Jongin made it here?”

“He has. I’ve got him in the basement. He’s resting. They really didn’t get him as badly as I think they thought they did. His shoulder’s fucked up though,” Junmyeon answered, ushering them all in. Baekhyun had been quiet for the majority of the walk, but upon hearing Jongin’s name he perked up and glanced over at Junmyeon.

“Jongin?” He said, his accent thick, but his words understandable. Junmyeon nodded and switched to Oeralese for the alien’s benefit. “He’s going to be fine, if you were worried about him.” It seemed like all the tension left Baekhyun’s body; he relaxed visibly at the news.

“He shoved me into a book shop before running off. I didn’t know if he was okay or not. There was a lot of blood,” Baekhyun mentioned, “I don’t know how much blood loss kills a human, if it even kills your kind, in the first place,”

“Uh, it does,” Chanyeol explained, “But he didn’t lose enough. He’s going to be fine. We just might be down here a few days longer while he recovers.” Junmyeon nods to confirm what he’s said. They’ll be grounded for a few days more, but its nothing serious. Even though they know the ISA is looking for them, Junmyeon seems relatively assured that there will be no problems regarding their safety.

They go downstairs to take a brief look at Jongin. He doesn’t look as bad as Chanyeol might have imagined, and any worries he’d had were immediately assuaged. Junmyeon showed Baekhyun and him to one of the rooms connected to the basement living room that Jongin rested in. The door was heavy, probably sound proofed.

“If anyone comes to see this place, the basement doesn’t exist. This room will keep any noise inside it, so y’all don’t have to worry about staying silent if we get searched. I’m moving Sehun and Jongin to the other room, does this rooming arrangement work, Captain?” He says softly, inclining his head towards Baekhyun, who’s already begun exploring the new room. Chanyeol nods and Junmyeon leaves them to go help with Jongin.

Almost immediately Baekhyun’s asking, “You didn’t get hurt, did you? That girl I followed mentioned you and Sehun being on the run.”

“No, I didn’t get hurt. Sehun nearly got shot, but we’re quicker on our feet than Jongin is apparently.” Baekhyun snorted at that and then turned, his eyes glimmering with seriousness.

“I was worried about you. You are the first to show me love in millennia… I underestimated my heart,” He said softly. Chanyeol can’t stop his lips from curling into a somewhat smug smile. If Baekhyun catches the emotion, he doesn’t let it show, only continues, “I made a promise to Yixing, but since I know my communicator failed to transmit any of my messages… it isn’t as if he heard me make it.”

He and Chanyeol meet in the center of the room, at the foot of the bed. “What’s a promise to a dead man? It is merely a cage put around the heart.” The alien slides his hand up into Chanyeol’s hair reverently, as if he really had been scared to lose him earlier in the day.

It’s fate more than anything else. Falling into the bed as they do, wrapped together. This is the Baekhyun that silmultaneously magnifies and satisfies all of Chanyeol’s curiosity. The one with soft lips and sharp nails. The one that arches up from the bedsheets just to feel Chanyeol’s body against his own for as long as he can. This Baekhyun has stars under his skin and love in his touch. This Baekhyun has a profound sadness to his eyes that he masks with gentle kisses and promises that he’s moved on.

And because Chanyeol is selfish, he takes and takes, even when he knows Baekhyun’s heart lies elsewhere. He runs his hands down Baekhyun’s sides with all of the roughness of humanity. He bites his way down Baekhyun’s body, lets his jealousy mark Baekhyun’s skin in patterns of red and pink. 

And Baekhyun sings his praises. His heart may not belong to Chanyeol, but by God did his reactions. Every kiss, every touch creates a new reaction. He learns that while Baekhyun is a lazy lover, he is an encouraging lover. He slides his fingers into Chanyeol’s hair, guides the man’s head to where his cock tents his sweatpants. It’s only a suggestion, that’s all it can be when Baekhyun guides him so gently to where he wants Chanyeol most.

And Chanyeol indulges, because he may not own Baekhyun’s heart, but for whatever goddamn reason, Baekhyun seems to own his. Chanyeol wraps his hand around Baekhyun’s cock, groans as Baekhyun moans and jerks under his touch. The alien relaxes after that first touch, props himself up on his elbows so that he can watch as Chanyeol swirls his tongue around his cock. He breathes soft “thank you”’s and little “please”’s. He drops back down flat on the bed, arching up as if to escape the soft suction Chanyeol’s been using on him. His hand fists in Chanyeol’s hair again, then smooths out his hair gently.

Baekhyun it too gentle for someone who hurts Chanyeol so much. Chanyeol almost wishes he was rougher, and yet a part of him basks in the way Baekhyun simply accepts and praises everything Chanyeol gives him.

They fuck like lovers. Not like what they are… loners that have yet to confront their griefs. Baekhyun takes everything Chanyeol gives him and more. He consumes Chanyeol in a way no one else ever has, and the fact terrifies Chanyeol more than anything else.

Someone he knows next to nothing about should not have so much power over him.

—

Jongin was stable enough to travel to Korea after three days had passed. Three days in which Baekhyun and Chanyeol had danced a dance neither of them should have. Not when Baekhyun was still in love with someone else; not when Chanyeol was so unfamiliar with Baekhyun’s motives. It had grown on him, the suspicion he held against Baekhyun, mostly due to Sehun and Junmyeon’s own doubts.

“I’m just saying, for someone who was ready to kill when we first met them, it seems odd that upon establishing communication he would instantly want to join us on our ship,” Junmyeon voices. They’re all eating dinner quietly in the basement downstairs. Chanyeol gets up to wash out his bowl and plate even as Sehun continues Junmyeon’s train of thought.

“No I agree, how much do we actually know about him? Do we know what he was researching”

“He’s never explicitly explained it,” Chanyeol hummed, Baekhyun had just entered the room. He could not understand them though, so Chanyeol continued onwards. “He talks around _his_ research a lot, sort of lobs it under ‘my researchers’ which is really general and unhelpful.”

Junmyeon nods thoughtfully, glancing over at Baekhyun. The alien cozies himself up on the couch where Jongin’s reading, only paying half a mind to the conversation they’d been having. He drops a hand to Baekhyun’s neck soothingly as the alien curls up into his side. Chanyeol looks away from them even as he feels his jealousy twinge. “Well, from what we got out of him back on ERI, his researchers were looking for a cure to the C _achexia Febris_ but he never specified what they worked on within that strain.”

Chanyeol hummed, “He mentioned regenerative cures when he made that salve for Minseok. But he did say that was primarily Yixing’s study. He called it the foundation on which his husband was building. He also said Yixing sent him away for the cure to keep him safe from the illness.”

“There’s potential that he wasn’t researching anything,” Jongin says from the couch, “has he ever expressly mentioned it?”

“He grabbed a lot of papers when we left. All of them are in Eoslin though, so I have no idea if they’re his personal work or someone elses that he’s salvaging, you know?”

“Would he tell you if you asked him up front then?” Jongin questioned, looking over his shoulder. Chanyeol shrugged,

“Baekhyun, you never told us what you were researching?”

Baekhyun sat up and peered over at them, “I researched how time fails to exist in a linear manner. It is why my ship was exploring so close to Halcyon-1; near those entities time becomes loose and fluid. My crew ceased to age even outside of Halcyon-1’s point of no return, despite being Eolins. I was also exploring how fluid time could be utilized, if it could be utilized, for medicine.” Chanyeol blinked. He hadn’t really expected _that_ to be what Baekhyun was researching. Before he translated for Sehun he asked, “Can it be used for medicine?”

“My study was inconclusive,” Baekhyun confirmed. Chanyeol nodded, well, that was a let-down, but not altogether unexpected. Utilizing a concept such as time felt so foreign and unbelievable. 

He translated for Sehun and they all sighed, Junmyeon asked Baekhyun a question, “How much do you know about your lover’s design for the cure? Enough to give us a headstart if we can’t contact him?” Baekhyun cocked his head to the side, thinking.

“I know how to create the original regenerative serum. It’s not enough to get rid of the illness completely, but it staves the effects for a bit. My crew also developed a serum that staved the effects for a few years, but compared to Yixing’s it’s not useful.”

“Can you write down how to create the regenerative serum? I can put our scientists on it and see if we can take it from there,” Junmyeon asks. Baekhyun nods and waves a hand, letting them know he’ll do it later. As quickly as he’d become a part of their conversation, he was once again excluded. Sehun tapped his fingers idly against the table.

“I still don’t really trust him. I think he’s too articulate for me to feel like he’s not hiding something. Chanyeol, are you… being careful with him?”

“I’m not going to get attached,” Chanyeol said smoothly. “He’s a breath of fresh air and makes a wonderful lover,” He watched Junmyeon’s lip curl with judgement, “but I would just as easily give him up if I had too. I’m not going to fall in love with an alien.” There’s a beat of silence that follows his words before Sehun clears his throat.

“Anyways, our plane is waiting for us… I’d like to leave in the morning if possible and just drive the entire way there. We’ll probably end up tailed, but as long as we get to the plane they can’t do anything. They won’t shoot us down because of you two,” He nods between Baekhyun and Chanyeol, “so we just have to worry about them forcing us down before we get to Korea.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure everything’s good for the morning. Jongin, you’re good to travel?”

“Yeah. Can’t wait to make my virgin space voyage, boys!” Everyone laughs.

—

They were not challenged on their way to the private airstrip. They were not challenged on their flight into the Korean Research Campus, and they were not challenged as they disembarked. In many ways, it seemed the worst of their trouble was over. Everything went along perfectly. ERI was able to send them down pods and welcome them back aboard once they’d relaunched into outer space. It was… easy.

ERI immediately left the Solterra-1 System, and only then did Chanyeol allow communications to open once more with the ISA. Only to find out that, like ERI had blocked out the command center’s communicators, so too had the command center blocked out ERI’s transmissions. The message was clear. If ERI returned to Earth, it would be shot down by the high-tech anti-extraterrestrial weaponry that orbited the planet. They had allowed for Chanyeol to escape the system, but they would not welcome him back without sacrifice.

He was able to communicate to his family, and allow the rest of the crew to communicate to their families that it would be safest for them to go into hiding, or take refuge where communities would protect them.

Baekhyun seemed more at home in space than on Earth, but he also felt more distant. He was working tirelessly on the transmitter that he was outfitting to handle Yixing’s messages, _if_ he could even contact Yixing in the first place. 

Chanyeol stood watching him work now. Baekhyun had turned his sleeping quarters into something of a mess. On one side of the room, he had the instruments he needed to tinker with the communicator; on the other side of the room, blankets were strewn about randomly. “I can’t believe you’ve been sleeping.”

“Now is not the time to make fun of me, Human,” Baekhyun chided, his tone light even though his face remained stoic and focused. “I’m putting together something that has the potential to reconnect me with my past.”

“What is so wrong with the future? Why do you cling to the past?”

“If I remember correctly, you were the one who asked for me to attempt to establish connection with Yixing,” Baekhyun pointed out, refraining from taking Chanyeol’s bait. “Chanyeol. I may be enamored with you… in fact I am positively delighted by you, but I have known you for less than a sun cycle. I have known and loved Yixing for longer than your _species_ has even _existed_.”

“I don’t see why you’re so loyal to him when, for all you know, he could have moved on from you.”

“I’ve hardly been loyal. Did we not fuck a mere week or so ago?” He said crassly, turning around to face Chanyeol, lips quirked in a smirk. “Why are you so adamant that I am not capable of sharing my affection? Yixing is not jealous like you… if he were to answer. It would not be an end all, I’m sure.”

“If he doesn’t answer? Will you fall into my arms though?”

“My body may. But my heart will not. Not until you get rid of your venom towards him. Not until I know you as I knew him.”

“I don’t think you’ve given up on him. If he is dead… I doubt you’ll react well.”

“You are probably right, but my heart will react when that day comes. For now I will hold onto my sliver of hope, and you will allow me to.” They both fall into silence. Baekhyun lets them stew like that for a moment, then he says, “The communicator will be ready to begin scanning for Yixing’s signal tomorrow morning. I’m allowing it to charge to full power so we get the best connection… that is, if we do connect.”

Chanyeol nodded. He shouldn’t. Baekhyun may be finding out the fate of his husband tomorrow… and yet, he couldn’t help himself. His heart sang with pride when Baekhyun melted into the kiss. They hit the bed with a soft _whump_ , the foam giving out comfortably under their weight. If Chanyeol loses him tomorrow, at least he has tonight.

—

The bridge was crowded with the heads of each station on the ship. None other than the very few who spoke Oeralese would be able to tell what was going on, but Seulgi was going to translate to them anything that was said. That way, if Yixing answered and could relay any valuable information, it could immediately be recorded. Baekhyun moved about the hall, righteously upright, serious about setting up everything perfectly. He had to ensure that, if a connection was made, they did not lose it immediately after.

And finally, he was ready. He fiddled with the controls on the transmitter and everyone held their breath.

The device murmured something.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened, his hands shook, nearly dropping the device. Chanyeol stopped it from falling, gently cupping Baekhyun’s hands and ensuring he wouldn’t let it slip from his fingers. The alien was grinning, his joy as blinding as the Sun.

“ _Yixing_ ,” he breathed, the greeting had been in his native tongue. Chanyeol wouldn’t be able to understand the conversation. Baekhyun began to say something, the syllables rushing out of his mouth.

The device cut him off. Chanyeol connected the dots only a second slower than Baekhyun. The smile fell from the alien’s face and he recoiled as if burned, releasing the device and pulling his hands free of Chanyeol’s. The human only barely kept his hold on the device. “Baekhyun, come translate,”

“No. There’s a switch, it’ll translate into Oeralese. I cannot listen to _that,_ ” The alien snarled, the grief, the anger, written on his face as clear as day. He showed no remorse for snapping at Chanyeol, immediately turning and striding out of the room. The crew that stood around them watched curiously, most of them unable to translate the conversation. Those that could, Jongin, Kyungsoo, Seulgi, all watched him with varying degrees of concern.

Chanyeol flipped the switch on the device, resolving to check on Baekhyun later.

_ “—I’m sorry that you will hear of my death over these recordings. It was all I could leave you that made me feel assured that you would get them. It has been… several generations since your last message to me. Someone who talks as much as you do would not leave me so long without a word if you had not experienced trouble. Your crew, when they returned, explained the situation. I have not given up hope that you will survive, and so I recorded these messages for whenever you may find them. To tell you about the history you have missed. _

_ Sooyoung passed a generation after you left in search of a universal cure. She lived her life to the fullest, even without the cure. She was as strong as we always thought she was. Not the same can be said for the rest of the Eolins. Her death, without an heir, led the planet to fracture socially. It was not long before war began to slaughter as many as the cure. Perhaps, if we had retained our hospitalities, the cure would have been found and the planet’s demise staved. _

_ But we did not. The people turned on the Sehrli quickly. For what is a god that cannot bring back the dead? What use is there to look up to a being that does nothing but watch generations of your own die in what feels like a blink of the eye to them? I have taken Yifan into hiding with me. He is too generous. He frequently offers what serums I complete to the street urchins and less fortunate. They will slaughter him when they realize my cures are not forever. _

_ As for the cure… I found it, but it is useless at this time. There are too little of us and too many of them. Perhaps, before they had slaughtered our kind… before they had decimated us to the point I believe Yifan and I may very well be the only Sehrli left besides you, then the cure would be plausible. It is in our blood Baekhyun. We were not born, and yet we lived and can die as if mortals. _

_ We are and we are not. We more than they will reenter the universe as something more. We are composed of everything that birthed the universe. We are as old as she is. We are her blood, her sweat, her tears. The fever is an illness that plagues us as much as it does her. There is a reason I will not die of the fever, not as I originally thought. _

_ The universe is constantly expanding. She is a cycle of rebirth. We live so long because our bodies do not decay. The plague causes that decay, and yet, still our biology matches it in intensity. It will cause us pain, but after eons it will leave our systems. _

_ I’ve learned that by separating the plasma of our blood we can access a chemical compound that, when added to the previous cures I had devised, is capable not only of fighting off the disease but also regenerating the sickened individual as the disease is eradicated from the body. _

_ I tested it on some of the youngest Eolins near my hiding place. Ethically, it was not right to drag them in to experiment, but Yifan and I suspended ethics in order to see if it was possible to save them. _

_Yifan was their donor; I had to use blood that was not sickened. I did not know if the infection present in my blood would strengthen their strains. If the cure would not be able to work as intended. Zitao, one of the children, not only survived his strain of the disease but was tested for immunity to the other strains. The second child fought off their disease with the aid of my cure. They were killed in the war before I could test them for immunity._

_I would not sacrifice Yifan to produce the cure. I don’t have enough time to explore the chemical compound. You can only hide for so long before someone gives you away. I will not sacrifice us for a race that turned on itself. I will not see them cured when they are so clearly plagued by something more wicked than even the fever. I have destroyed my research apart from these recordings, Baekhyun. No species that slaughters its own deserves the elixir of life.”_

Chanyeol stopped the recording. None of those that could understand the message spoke. It was useless. They had sacrificed it all for nothing. The ISA had declared them rogue and half of the discovered universe would readily capture the ship to reap any rewards.

Chanyeol left the room.

Baekhyun stood at the single window within his quarters. His face was impassive, a far-cry from the fury and disappointment Chanyeol had witnessed only minutes ago. “He’s dead.” Chanyeol said brusquely. The alien’s eyes fluttered closed.

He looked beautiful like this. Tragic, yes, but beautiful. The soft glow of the nearest star bathed his face in gold, caressing aristocratic cheek-bones, pretty, feminine lips. His hair had fallen free of the loose ponytail he often used to hold it back, falling in soft waves around his face. There was something inherently foreign about him and yet stunningly familiar.

“He found out what the cure was.”

Baekhyun didn’t move, remained stoic in the face of his pain. It angered Chanyeol, but he did not let his emotions escape from him. The alien finally spoke, “You do not sound pleased. I imagine there is an ethical implication?”

Chanyeol leaned against the doorframe. “Not so much that my crew is not ready to mutiny and rip you apart themselves.”

“The cure is then a part of my biology?” Baekhyun said, as if it all made sense. Chanyeol froze, shock welling within him. It shouldn’t have been so easy for Baekhyun to know that; to figure that out when he had played the fool this entire time.

He fought the growl that threatened to rise in his throat, “How did you know that?”

“I had my hypotheses; you’ve only begun to confirm them.”

“You’ve been acting like you know nothing!”

Baekhyun turned, his eyes cold, nothing like the mirth Chanyeol had grown used to seeing in them. This Baekhyun was more similar to how he had been when they had first met. “Would you be so inclined to offer your life for a species that means nothing to you.” His words struck Chanyeol like a slap in the face. He recolied, shaking.

“Then you play games with me? Do I _really_ mean nothing even now?” He snarled, stalking forwards, shoving the alien back. The other’s back hit the window pane hard. His eyes betrayed his guilt, but as quickly as Chanyeol saw it, it had disappeared.

“You act as if I am not justified in my actions. Are you so selfless that you will die for a species you have never known? For a planet that wars with itself? There is nothing blessed about your world, Chanyeol!”

“You compared me to him, but it’s you who are like him. Both of you are selfishand have a moral superiority complex. What about the innocent kids that are going to die? What about the families that have to suffer because the people in power began the wars? Xiuying risked her life for you just as she did for me. Minseok forgave you even after you nearly gutted him. Will you really watch them suffer?”

Baekhyun reeled on him, “What about my family!” He shoved Chanyeol away from him, his strength never failing to surprise the captain. “They are dead to a war of their own, to a plague of their own. I owe you people nothing! You came upon my ship! I may have chosen to go along with you, but little has suggested to me that I am not merely being used!” His chest heaved with anger. Chanyeol took a step back.

“I can only communicate with a few of you, and even then you speak behind my back in the tones of your own language,” He drew himself up haughtily, and in heavily accented Common continued, “I learned your language and I have listened to your doubts. You are a _fool,_ Chanyeol, if you think you can play games with _me!_ Do you think I can’t understand the scientists that have studied me? They whispered behind your back. They’d have ended my life long ago, but _no._ They couldn’t because they still had to get the cure from my research. You all have used me, don’t pretend like I am the only one in the wrong!” Chanyeol shut his mouth, no retort coming to mind, so caught-off-guard by the implications of what Baekhyun had said.

“Perhaps I did care for you, but all I heard was how you were not going to get attached. How you did not trust me. How you would _never_ love me because I was not one of you. I was too dangerous, too foreign for that,” Once he was started it seemed as if he could not stop, Baekhyun threw everything at him at once, dangerously livid. “How _dare_ you blame me for saying nothing of my suspicions. How _dare_ you blame me for being selfish and superior. How _dare_ you condemn me when you have done the same to me! You have seen me as nothing but a pet, a curiosity, an experiment from which you will learn!”

“Shut up.”

“Or what. You will prove me right? That your species is as war-mongering as the next. As hellish as any other depraved kind I have come into contact with? I have no doubts any more! Slaughter me here and begin Yixing’s research again. I will not stop you.” As if to prove his point the alien strode close, too close. His hand closed around one of the sheathed knives in Chanyeol’s belt. He guided Chanyeol’s hand to it, wrapped his fingers round the hilt, and then brought the blade up to his own chest.

So they stood, in the warm glow of the star just beyond their ship. Baekhyun’s eyes betrayed no fear, only stunning, humbling loss… and something more. Pity perhaps, but even that was not right. Chanyeol had seen this look before, only a short while ago, when the comm had first come to life with his lover’s voice. Chanyeol could recognize love in the alien’s eyes, and yet, he could see the hatred, the pain, the profound sadness that lurked just behind it.

Perhaps he could have loved Chanyeol. Perhaps Chanyeol could have truly loved him, had they not been so self-absorbed.

Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered shut. Chanyeol leaned in. They kissed tenderly, as if they were lovers long lost, returning to one another. Baekhyun, as always, kissed as if there was all the time in the world; slowly and full of passion. They must have stood there for minutes, trapped in each other’s embrace. Chanyeol held his hand at the small of the other’s back, supporting him even as he slumped backwards.

It was only once his thoughts returned to him that he recoiled.

Baekhyun hit the ground with a dull thud and a soft moan of pain, unbecoming of something so magnificent as he.

Chanyeol screamed and fell to his knees, curling protectively over the fallen alien’s chest, his horror mounting as warm blood soaked into his hair. “I’m… so, so sorry, Baekhyun. I need you to understand this is for them… not for me.” Baekhyun’s nails are mean where they dig into his palm.

“Don’t lie, Chanyeol. You’re selfish, but it’s all right. I am too. I’ve stolen your heart and you will never have it back.”

—  


Perhaps he should have been thankful that the crew had jumped to action with so few questions. Had he… done what he had done and they had lost His blood to the elements, Chanyeol could never have forgiven himself. Even so, watching them quickly haul His body off of the floor was too much. He… _it_ had to be preserved. Otherwise it would all have been in vain.

He felt nothing. Saw nothing after that final image of it, the corpse, being taken away down the halls. Chanyeol moved without any thought behind his actions. He simply… did. Several times Kyungsoo attempted to reach him, probe past that dangerously cold outer shell, but nothing would take his mind away from what he had done. The only people he may have been able to let in did not wish to speak to him, he could see their cold eyes from across the room in those short moments he was able to ground himself.

Sehun and Jongin regarded him as if he were a stranger, and somehow, that hurt more than anything else. Perhaps it was their frigidity that made Chanyeol truly understand the gravity of the action he had undertaken.

—  


Kim Junmyeon was the one to finally put together the cure. They scavenged what they knew of the ingredients in the serum Baekhyun had once prepared, as well as pulled apart the inner workings of the Sehrli’s cells. It did not take long, merely a year, for the team of scientists to put together that final solution. They did not even need another of Baekhyun's species, the chemical compound, once broken down could be harvested from other objects within space. But finding it and bringing it to Earth was a can-of-worms in and of itself. Jongin worked as the acting diplomat, not only to engage in peace talks with the ISA, but also with the number of ISA allies that had been hunting them down in the time they spent researching.

It had gone tensely. The entire ship had been sworn not to speak of where the breakthrough came from. That, in time, it would be released. The ISA itself was not pleased to work with the crew of ERI again, but the prospect of gaining the cure as well as welcoming home several of the academic minds aboard the ship was enough to drive the negotiations.

Chanyeol did not return to Earth, at least, he did not step foot upon it. It was arranged that ERI would dock, permanently at the space station. She did not do so until she had been effectively stripped of everything that made her a war machine, a ship capable of withstanding interstellar conflict.

He watched his crew leave in the transport pods from aboard the EXODUS, newly fitted with the technology that had been stripped from her sister-ship.

He welcomed those that wished to remain, indefinitely in space, at the EXODUS’s own loading dock. Sehun and Jongin, despite all that had happened were among the crew standing there. As was Seulgi, Kyungsoo, Jongdae, Minseok, and Junmyeon. After further inspection, even their resident medic and biologist, Luhan was among those gathered to continue their research.

The EXODUS was not challenged as it left the Solterra-1 system. She could not be.

—

It was harder than it should have been to sit down at his desk, pick up the pen, and begin writing his tale. It took a few minutes for him to even put a word on the page, and once it was there, he gazed at it critically, painfully aware of what he was about to share.

_HALCYON_

ce, 2032; Park, Chanyeol

A retelling of events that began in Eolin Millenia 9.75 and finished in Solterran 2020.

—

“Captain?” Jongin’s voice is professional. It had been that way since… Chanyeol had taken steps to secure the cure. He tried not to think about what their communication used to be like, the jokes, the friendship. Jongin would still die for him. He would still die for Jongin… but there was a disconnect.

“Yes?”

“We need you on the bridge. We’ve picked up a signal upon re-entering SMBH Omega-04. Scans are reading it as a ship.”

Chanyeol’s heart stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the conclusion of Halcyon! She’s my baby, so I genuinely hope you enjoyed her. I got the idea for her after reading an F.A.Q. on black holes and I definitely butchered some of the science employed to make her components work, but I was fascinated by the concept of time and playing around with different versions of things using black holes. Halcyon is currently the sole-work in her universe, but she may one day see a sequel. Additionally, she may eventually be accompanied by sister-works, but nothing that has to be read in order to comprehend Halcyon’s timeline and events. If you’re curious as to what these companion works may look like, there is one planned to explore the planet Eolin and Baekhyun and Yixing’s relationship prior the sickness and prior ever meeting the crew of the ERI. So, I don’t know, if you enjoyed Halcyon, maybe you will enjoy that when it comes out! 
> 
> I’d like to give a huge thank you to my Beta Minnie, as well as my Beta Artemis! Y’all’s feedback was so helpful, and your encouragement is the only reason Halcyon was completed as early as it was. I had gone through a big rut with the story, so when you guys messaged me to tell me you were enjoying it, I felt like I had to continue it no matter what. I’m very happy that I chose a direction to bring it in and let it flourish from. Thank y’all! 
> 
> And thank you guys for reading! It’s always exciting to see reads on my work, and I would love a comment from you (I try to respond to any that I receive) or some kudos to show that you appreciated the story! Again, thank you for reading, much love!

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on twitter: https://twitter.com/sophleur ! and on curious cat https://curiouscat.me/sophleur !


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